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A  nation  at  work  in  human  uplift 


The 
Better  Country 

BY 

Dana    W.     Bartlett 

Superintendent  of  the 
Bethlehem  Institutions,  Los  Angelesy  Cal. 

Author  of  "  The  Better  City  " 


THE  C.   M.  CLARK    PUBLISHING  CO. 

BOSTON,    MASSACHUSETTS 


<4- 


Cofy right ^   igil 

Tmi  C.   M.   Clabk  Publishing  Co. 

Botton,   Mattachu«etta 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT 
GIFFORD   PINCHOT 
JAMES    WILSON 
FREDERICK   NEWELL 

and  that  group  of  constructive  workers  in  our  government 

service  toho,  during  the  past  decade ^   have  stood  for 

Justice  and  Equality  of  Opportunity,  and  who 

have  always  **  set  the  common  good  of  all  of 

us  above  the  private  gain  of  some  of  us,** 


355;i50 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/bettercountryOObartrich 


PREFACE 

The  vital  welfare  of  a  nation  is  of  larger  import  than 
the  physical  extension  of  its  borders.  The  effort  to 
raise  life  to  its  highest  value  once  the  work  of  the 
individual  or  the  group  is  now  recognized  of  such  im- 
portance that  the  government  itself  has  entered  into 
social  service  and  the  nation  has  acknowledged  the 
work  of  human  uplift  as  its  highest  prerogative. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  point  out  some  of  the 
lines  along  which  our  nation  is  moving  toward  a 
larger  co-operation  in  the  interest  of  all  the  people, 
the  plain  people  as  well  as  the  prosperous;  to  show  a 
nation  at  work  in  internal  improvement  rather  than  in 
foreign  conquest;  to  exhibit  real  democracy  in  the 
forming. 

This  is  not  intended  to  be  an  exhaustive  study  of  all 
of  the  uplift  work  of  the  nation,  but  rather  illustrative 
as  to  methods  employed  and  somewhat  suggestive 
as  to  what  more  can  be  done. 

In  order  to  trace  the  development  of  National 
Social  Service,  it  has  been  necessary  to  include  the 
description  of  many  of  the  successful  efforts  along 
state  and  municipal  lines. 

I  wish  to  acknowledge  the  courteous  treatment  on 
the  part  of  all  government  officials  when  approached 
for  information.  The  readiness  of  response  on  their 
part  and  the  completeness  of  the  facts  which  they 
furnished  makes  research  work  in  government  matters 
a  pleasure.  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  various  federal 
departments  for  the  loan  of  many  of  the  illustrations 
used  in  this  book. 

DANA  W.  BARTLETT 
Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

January,  1911 


CONTENTS 


Chapter                                                                              Page 
I   SOCIAL  SERVICE   1 

II  RAISING  THE  STANDARD 16 

III  NATIONS  AT  WORK  IN  SOCIAL   UPLIFT  ....  36 

IV  WEALTH  FOR  ALL  THE  PEOPLE  62 

V  CONSERVATION  OF  A  NATION'S  RESOURCES  97 

VI  AGRICULTURE'S  OPPORTUNITY 133 

VII  BUILDING  HOMES 167 

VIII  ENRICHMENT  OF  LIFE   206 

IX  IN  THE  LIFE  SAVING  BUSINESS  250 

X  EDUCATING  THE  PEOPLE    306 

XI  IMMIGRANTS 359 

XII  SERVING  OTHERS   405 

Xin   THE  ARMY  OF  PEACE 455 

XIV  MORE  DEMOCRACY    493 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  nation  at  work  in  human  uplift Frontispiece 

Page 
Desert  land  made  valuable  by  irrigation 76 

Frederick  Haynes  Newell,  Director  of  U.  S.  Reclamation 

Service 83 

Old  way — Logs  cut  and  left  together,  Lodgepole  pine, 

Colorado 98 


Gifford  Pinchot,  former  chief  of  U.  S.  Forest  Service 104 

The  land  logged  with  care  and  protected  from  fire.    The 

timber  and  wood  keep  coming   119 

Digging  canals  to  carry  water  to  distant  water  valleys 126 

James  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Agriculture 140 

Future  homesites  for  the  people 156 

Clay  road,  Eastover,  South  CaroHna 200 

The  government  hospital  on  the  Panama  Canal 229 

Teaching  the  people  how  to  build  good  roads   238 

The  government  is  building  good  roads 241 

The  oxygen  helmet  in  life-saving  259 

View  of  Fort  Stanton,  New  Mexico 283 

Wallipai  school  boy  at  Hackberry.    Trained  in  a  govern- 
ment school    317 

Educating  the  Indians  326 

Statute  of  Liberty  on  the  Dome  of  Capitol,  Washington, 

D.  C 445 

In  the  Yosemite  National  Park    450 

The  design  of  the  Hague  Peace  Palace  which  received  the 

First  Prize.    By  L.  M.  Coronnier,  of  Lille 470 

A  Fourth  of  July  fiesta  at  Iwahig,  1907,  each  division 

with  float  showing  work    485 

Los  Angeles  makes  its  own  cement  for  the  great  acqueduct  491 


CHAPTER  I 

Social  Service 

A  nation  at  work  in  human  uplift — ^that  is  the 
ideal,  yet  we  have  as  a  people  fallen  short  in 
our  treatment  of  the  hungry,  the  naked,  the 
stranger,  the  sick  and  the  prisoner.  At  last 
we  are  beginning  to  understand  the  meaning 
of  poverty,  the  number  of  those  who  are  living 
below  the  poverty  line,  the  amount  of  wretch- 
edness and  misery  which  is  to  be  found  in  every 
city.  In  fact,  now  for  the  first  time  we  are 
beginning  to  learn  how  the  other  half  lives.  It 
took  Booth  to  show  us  darkest  England  and 
its  submerged  tenth  in  Whitechapel.  It  took 
Jacob  Riis,  by  turning  the  limelight  upon  the 
reeking  New  York  tenement,  to  show  us  its 
squalor  and  breeding  places  of  disease.  We 
have  heard  the  cry  of  the  outcast  children, 
voiced  in  pitiless  wail.  Social  settlements 
have  sprung  up,  every  one  of  which  has  bec6me 
a  center  for  the  gathering  of  facts  regarding 
poverty  and  disease. 

So  we  have  been  forced  to  take  notice  of 


2  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

conditions  and  ask  ourselves  the  way  out  from 
this  wilderness  of  despair. 

It  was  Huxley  who  said:  "It  is  certain  that 
there  is  an  immense  amount  of  remediable 
misery  among  us.  Unless  this  is  effectually 
dealt  with,  the  hordes  of  vice  and  pauperism 
will  destroy  modern  civilization  as  effectually 
as  uncivilized  tribes  of  another  kind  destroyed 
the  great  social  organization  which  preceded 
ours." 

In  this  the  one  word  to  be  emphasized  is 
"remediable,"  and  if  this  is  so  then  we  need  not 
lose  heart,  but  learn  how  to  apply  the  remedy, 
believing  that  in  time  the  misery  of  the  world 
will  decrease. 

As  we  have  been  learning  our  lesson,  what 
have  been  the  steps  by  which  we  have  gone 
forward.'*  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  time  when 
the  aged  and  the  weak  were  exposed  to  die,  to 
this  day  with  its  hospitals  and  homes  for  the 
infirm,  and  the  progress  has  been  slow  through- 
out the  weary  years. 

The  first  movement  toward  the  better  way 
came  to  the  world  when  a  few  rare  souls  moved 
by  the  spirit  of  loving  service  gave  themselves 
in  gentle  ministry  to  the  poor  and  needy. 
They  could  not  check  the  plague,  but  they 
could  cheer  the  dying  and  bury  the  dead;  they 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  3 

could  not  furnish  employment,  but  they  could 
divide  the  loaf  of  bread  with  the  hungry;  they 
could  not  stay  the  ravages  of  war,  but  they 
could  be  nurses  on  the  battlefield. 

This  spirit  of  loving  service  has  not  grown 
less  but  has  rather  increased  as  the  years  have 
passed  by  and  the  deaconess,  the  sister  of 
mercy,  the  Salvation  Army  lassie,  and  the 
mission  worker  have  given  all  that  they  had 
to  ''the  least  of  these." 

While  these  loving  souls  have  labored,  others 
have  given  their  money,  asking  only  that  the 
sight  of  wretchedness  and  misery  be  kept  far 
from  them.  Helpful  as  were  these  ministra- 
tions they  afforded  no  final  solution  of  the 
problem  of  poverty,  for  the  great  crowd  of 
needy  ones  never  grew  less  and  the  clamorous 
cry  for  help  rose  and  fell  in  ever  increasing 
power. 

That  something  more  had  to  be  done  was 
very  evident,  and  the  leaders  in  the  great 
humanitarian  movements  said:  "System  is 
what  we  need."  And  so  the  next  great  step  was 
in  organizing  charity. 

This  was  certainly  a  gain,  for  duplication 
was  avoided.  There  was  less  of  pauperizing 
and  more  of  the  personal  touch  of  the  friendly 
visitor.     Men  who  had  fallen  behind  were 


4  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

taught  thrift  and  self-reliance  and  aided  in 
their  movement  to  a  larger  manhood. 

But  organizing  charity  did  not  seem  to  lessen 
greatly  the  amount  of  poverty  and  wretched- 
ness. We  were  handling  results,  and  failing 
to  reach  the  cause  which  lay  farther  back. 

A  new  type  of  worker  came  forth  as  a  search- 
er for  this  cause.  Usually  he  was  found  in 
some  settlement,  not  as  an  old-fashioned 
sociologist,  studying  outward  conditions,  but 
rather  as  a  brother  of  the  helpless  who  was 
seeking  to  answer  for  them  the  almost  in- 
articulate cry  of  their  hearts. 

Those  who  have  spent  years  in  the  very 
centers  of  unrest,  with  one  accord  are  saying 
that  much  of  the  disease  and  death,  crime  and 
poverty,  is  preventable — yes,  that  is  the  word, 
"preventable." 

The  mission  worker  tenderly  comforts  the 
mother  in  the  tenement,  who  has  lost  her  babe. 
That  is  good,  but  better  still  is  the  work  of 
the  city  nurse  who  through  the  long,  hot  sum- 
mer cares  for  the  children  in  other  tenements, 
instructing  the  mothers  in  the  proper  use  of 
clothes  and  food,  and  perhaps  sending  both 
mother  and  babe  into  the  country  for  a  week, 
thus  saving  their  lives. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  5 

Perhaps  the  tenement  inspector  discovers 
the  deadly  sewer  gas  and  warns  the  owner  to 
make  repairs,  and  thus  keeps  one  more  of 
"the  least  of  these"  from  being  buried  in  the 
potter's  field.  Better  still,  because  Jacob 
Riis  has  spoken,  the  city  itself  has  moved  to 
the  destruction  of  the  death-dealing  tenement 
and  a  play-ground  takes  its  place,  and  new 
sanitary  dwellings  house  the  dispossessed. 

We  call  this  a  part  of  a  great  social  move- 
ment, yet  we  must  also  call  it  a  spiritual 
movement,  as  it  stirs  the  hearts  of  men  in 
every  land.  Tolstoy  says :  "Mankind  is  about 
to  be  seized  with  a  frenzy,  a  madness  of  love." 

"This  will  not,  of  course,  happen  smoothly 
or  all  at  once;  it  will  involve  misunderstand- 
ings— even  sanguinary  ones,  perchance — so 
trained  and  so  accustomed  have  we  been  to 
hatred,  even  by  those,  sometimes,  whose 
mission  it  was  to  teach  us  to  love  one  another. 
But  it  is  evident  that  this  great  law  of  brother- 
hood must  be  accomplished  some  day,  and  I 
am  convinced  that  the  time  is  commencing 
when  our  desire  for  its  accomplishment  will 
become  irresistible." 

Inspired  by  this  message,  let  us  read  again 
the  familiar  words  of  the  Christ  descriptive  of 


6  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  judgment  day:  "When  I  was  hungry  ye 
gave  me  food;  when  I  was  thirsty  you  gave  me 
drink;  when  I  was  a  stranger  you  took  me  to 
your  home;  when  I  was  naked  you  clothed  me; 
when  I  fell  ill  you  visited  me;  when  I  was  in 
prison  you  came  to  me.  Lord,  when  did  we 
all  these  things  to  you?  As  often  as  you  did 
it  to  one  of  these,  my  brothers,  however  lowly, 
you  did  it  to  me." 

A  new  spirit  is  taking  possession  of  many 
students  of  the  social  problem.  The  old  way 
of  tenderly  caring  for  the  sick  in  hospital  and 
dispensary  is  being  reinforced  by  the  new  view 
that  disease  is  something  to  be  studied,  over- 
come and  prevented. 

We  once  said  that  crime  was  normal,  that 
heredity  was  a  constant  factor  and  that  the 
best  we  could  do  was  to  build  a  prison,  em- 
ploy a  chaplain,  and  endeavor  to  reform  the 
prisoner.  The  new  view  is  that  crime  is  not 
necessary,  that  environment  means  more  than 
heredity,  and  that  most  crime  can  be  pre- 
vented if  you  only  give  the  boy  and  the  man  a 
chance  to  live  right. 

In  the  old  days  we  pitied  the  poor,  but  the 
new  view  that  poverty  itself  may  be  blotted 
out,  crystallizes  our  pity  into  remedial  action. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  7 

Changed  economic,  political  and  social  con- 
ditions may  help  to  lift  the  burdens  which 
have  grown  almost  too  heavy  to  bear. 

The  truest  friend  of  '*the  least  of  these" 
gives  more  than  a  passing  sympathy,  or  a  coin 
tossed  into  the  outstretched  hand,  or  even  a 
gentle  word  of  cheer.  He  is  a  constructive 
and  preventive  worker,  who,  first  of  all,  seeks 
to  find  out  the  cause  of  existing  evils  and  then 
wisely  applies  the  remedy. 

He  who  would  fulfill  the  social  service  needed 
today  must  not  be  like  the  one  who  taught  the 
ragged  school  a  half  century  back,  for  the  de- 
mand of  the  modern  world  is  deeper  than 
clothes ;  deeper  than  daily  bread ;  it  is  a  demand 
for  opportunity — a  cry  for  a  chance  to  be  a 
man. 

True  social  service  means  each  for  all,  and 
all  for  each.  It  means  working  together  for 
the  good  of  all.  It  is  altruistic  in  spirit;  yea, 
deeper  than  that;  it  is  vicarious;  it  has  in  it  the 
element  of  sacrifice,  the  sacrifice  of  the  lower 
for  the  higher,  the  sacrifice  of  ease  and  comfort 
and  position,  the  sacrifice  of  the  world's  most 
coveted  prizes,  that  mankind  may  be  brought 
nearer  the  divine  ideal. 


8  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Not  alone  to  Jesus  came  the  vision  of  per- 
fected society.  Many  men  throughout  the 
centuries  have  dreamed  of  a  day  when  right- 
eousness and  justice  would  take  the  place  of 
oppression  and  fraud,  and  love  would  bind 
men  into  a  real  brotherhood.  In  increasing 
numbers  men  and  women  throughout  the 
world  are  saying:  "  'Count  me  as  one  who  loves 
his  fellow-men,'  and  let  me  serve  or  suffer  if  by 
that  means  I  can  ease  the  pain  of  those  who 
have  so  long  suffered  without  friend  and  help- 
er," and  they  are  saying  this  because  of  the 
vision  of  a  new  social  order  which  their  eyes 
behold. 

Perhaps  we  may  more  clearly  understand 
the  meaning  of  social  service  if  we  trace  the 
growth  of  the  communal  idea.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  world's  life  the  individual  was 
lost  in  the  family  or  the  tribe.  Each  fought 
for  the  other  against  their  common  foes. 
Uniting  into  larger  groups,  the  tribes  became 
the  nation,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  larger 
and  stronger  wall  of  defense  against  the  hostile 
hordes  pressing  upon  it  from  every  side. 

Later  on  the  organization  of  society  changed, 
and  a  few  feudal  over-lords  ruled  their  serfs 
with  a  rod  of  iron.    This  was  the  beginning  of 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  9 

a  rude  and  cruel  individualism.  The  world 
moved  on,  men  began  to  think,  and  the  great 
value  of  the  individual  human  soul  laid  hold 
of  them.  Then  dawned  the  day  of  a  new  in- 
dividualism. Each  man  as  an  individual 
stood  upon  a  footing  of  equality  before  his 
God  and  his  fellows.  It  was  the  day  of  oppor- 
tunity for  church  and  school.  Each  man 
could  now  make  of  his  life  what  he  chose. 
The  way  was  at  length  opened  to  him  for  at- 
taining the  highest  efficiency. 

Church  and  school  might  have  succeeded 
in  saving  the  world  had  there  not  entered  into 
the  world's  life  certain  great  unsocializing 
forces.  An  intense  individualism  reacted  upon 
democracy,  upon  industrial  life,  and  even 
upon  religious  life.  The  great  nineteenth 
century  movement  toward  a  pure  democracy 
was  checked  because  men  were  too  busy  with 
their  own  affairs  to  give  attention  to  govern- 
ment, or  they  chose  to  make  popular  govern- 
ment serve  their  own  advancement.  Thus  by 
criminal  greed  and  misuse  of  public  funds 
many  officials  became  enemies  of  the  republic. 
Treason  was  to  be  found  in  senate  and  state 
legislature  and  city  hall. 


10  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Individualism  in  industrial  life  produces 
swollen  fortunes  without  regard  to  the  rights  of 
others.  A  new  industrial  feudalism,  with  new 
serfs  and  new  retainers,  took  the  place  of  the 
simpler  industrial  life  of  an  earlier  century. 
The  results  of  the  new  industrialism  were  seen 
in  the  growth  of  the  slum,  the  importation 
of  ignorant,  unskilled  workmen,  the  intense- 
competition  which  largely  destroyed  individ- 
ual initiative  and  brought  men  into  masses  to 
be  controlled  as  "hands"  by  a  common  head. 
These  unsocializing  forces  brought  about  a 
condition  in  city,  state  and  nation  which  has 
continued  to  grow  ever  since;  and  which  now 
calls  for  change.  Social  service,  then,  the 
service  which  the  present  situation  demands, 
means  individual  and  collective  effort  to  bring 
about  a  change  in  government,  in  industry 
and  in  social  relations,  which  will  make  for 
righteousness  and  justice. 

Because  we  are  not  all  agreed  as  to  the 
proper  method  of  procedure  in  order  to  bring 
about  the  change  desired,  we  are  divided  into 
schools  and  parties,  ofttimes  warring  one 
against  another;  and  yet  if  we  only  knew  it, 
we  are  all  workers  together  after  a  common 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         11 

object,  although  approaching,  it  may  be  from 
a  somewhat  different  angle. 

One  man  writes  the  literature  of  exposure, 
thinking  that  it  is  enough  to  reveal  the  sin 
and  grief  and  misery  and  greed  of  the  modern 
world.  Another  belongs  to  a  group  that 
thinks  that  law  enforcement  and  prohibition  of 
evil  will  certainly  make  men  good.  Another 
works  for  constructive  legislation  and  the 
establishment  of  institutions  that  will  make 
the  good  attractive.  Another  becomes  in- 
terested in  some  minor  part  of  service  for  the 
community,  often  blind  to  the  fact  that  others 
working  in  different  ways  are  brothers  of  the 
common  good. 

To  one  man  the  reform  of  party  politics  is 
the  one  great  end  to  be  sought ;  to  another  the 
better  day  cannot  be  brought  in  except  by  a 
new  party  based  on  wiser  social  principles;  to 
the  settlement  worker,  city  congestion  is 
looked  upon  as  a  source  of  many  of  the  cities' 
ills ;  to  another  the  overthrow  of  the  saloon,  of 
gambling  hells,  and  of  the  social  evil,  are  the 
things  for  which  h^is  giving  his  life. 

These  groups  of  social  workers,  like  the 
different  branches  of  the  church,  are  divided 


12         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

by  sect  and  creed;  but  as  the  fences  which 
have  separated  workers  in  the  rehgious  world 
are  slowly  going  down,  so  in  this  newer  field  of 
service,  the  barriers  are  falling,  and  the  allied 
forces  are  working  together  with  ever  increasing 
intelligence  for  the  common  welfare. 

And  this  is  necessary,  for  it  is  no  easy  task  to 
raise  the  standard  of  living  to  the  ethics  of 
the  law  of  love  and  the  golden  rule,  even  with 
the  combined  effort  of  all  who  are  laboring  for 
social  uplift. 

This  movement  for  the  improvement  of  ex- 
isting conditions  is  world-wide.  It  is  seen  in 
China,  in  its  awakening  from  the  sleep  of 
centuries;  in  Persia  and  Turkey,  in  the  revolt 
of  the  people  from  the  rule  of  tyrants;  in 
Russia,  in  the  heroic  struggle  for  liberty  which 
grows  more  determined  every  day. 

In  our  own  land  the  feeling  of  responsibility 
for  the  solution  of  problems  relating  to  the 
social  order  is  increasing.  Men  who  have 
simply  been  money-makers  have  had  a  moral 
awakening,  and  are  stirred  to  action  by  the 
facts  which  reveal  man's  inhumanity  to  man, 
and  show,  too,  the  moral  corruption  of  modern 
politics. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         13 

There  are  many  men  who  are  freely  using 
their  talents  and  their  money  for  a  cleaner  Los 
Angeles,  a  cleaner  San  Francisco,  a  cleaner 
New  York,  a  cleaner  society — a  better  world. 

Reform  is  in  the  air.  Men  whose  names 
have  become  household  words  are  making  a 
national  fight  in  local  fields.  The  same  fight 
is  everywhere  on  to  restore  the  government  of 
the  people  to  the  people,  and  to  bring  about 
reform  in  industrial  life.  These  reforms  must 
go  hand  in  hand;  for  nothing  has  been  shown 
more  clearly  than  that  behind  bad  politics  there 
is  bad  business — bad  business  as  seen  in  pro- 
tected vice  and  bad  business  as  seen  too  often 
in  the  bribery  and  debauchery  practiced  by 
the  big  interests. 

But  bad  business  has  found  something  to 
reckon  with  at  last.  The  conscience  of  our 
people  is  now  awake.  The  wave  of  reform 
now  sweeping  over  the  country  is  a  "demand 
welling  up  from  the  hearts  of  the  people  for 
higher  ideals  in  politics,  for  better  standards 
in  public  morals,  for  civic  righteousness  and 
for  better  government  all  along  the  line.'* 

But  social  service  to  be  effectual  must  be 


14         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

constructive,  as  well  as  destructive.  Not 
only  must  the  bad  be  destroyed;  not  only 
must  the  better  way  be  pointed  out,  but 
actual  work  must  be  undertaken  and  institu- 
tions organized  that  will  crystallize  in  perma- 
nent form  the  best  which  has  been  revealed. 

No  better  illustration  of  the  right  sort  of 
social  service  can  be  found  than  that  seen  in 
our  cities  in  the  care  of  the  child  in  school  and 
playground;  in  the  provision  made  for  public 
baths;  in  the  making  of  the  city  beautiful  by 
definite  plans,  including  the  laying  out  of 
parks,  the  planting  of  trees,  and  the  erecting 
of  beautiful  buildings;  in  the  effort  toward 
prison  reform,  where  the  making  of  the  man  is 
more  thought  of  than  the  punishment  of  the 
criminal;  in  establishing,  wherever  possible, 
juvenile  courts,  parental  schools,  reformatories, 
the  probation  system,  the  indeterminate  sen- 
tence and  the  parole. 

Social  service  is  also  seen  at  its  best  in  the 
efforts  to  safeguard  life  and  limb  in  factory  and 
on  railroads,  and  in  the  conserving  of  the 
nation's  health  by  making  war  upon  the 
mosquito  and  thereby  destroying  yellow  fever; 
by  making  a  nation-wide  campaign  against 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  15 

tuberculosis — the  dread  white  plague;  by- 
guarding  the  sources  of  water  supply  and  de- 
manding pure  milk,  that  typhoid  may  not 
sweep  as  a  scourge  over  our  cities — in  fact 
by  putting  into  use  every  remedial  agency 
which  science  has  to  offer. 

The  best  thinkers  of  today  are  saying  that 
much  of  disease,  accident,  death,  crime  and 
poverty  is  preventable.  If  that  is  so,  then  in 
a  measure  each  one  of  us  is  responsible  if  we 
do  not  work  for  prevention.  The  church  as 
well  as  the  social  settlement  is  recognizing  the 
necessity  for  preventive  measures.  Char- 
acter-building will  always  be  the  chief  work 
of  the  clergy;  yet  in  every  church  there  is  an 
increasing  number  of  those  who  are  workers  in 
the  cause  of  civic  righteousness  and  justice  for 
all  the  oppressed. 

The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  young 
men  of  the  nation  will  enter  social  service  as 
eagerly  as  they  now  seek  public  office  through 
the  ordinary  devious  ways  of  politics.  And 
surely  to  work  for  the  good  of  the  people 
supplies  a  nobler  incentive  than  the  emolu- 
ments of  office  or  the  pride  of  political  power. 


CHAPTER  II 

Raising  The  Standard 

The  citizen  is  at  last  coming  to  his  own,  and 
the  word  "citizen"  is  now  written  large. 

A  few  years  ago  this  nation  had  a  rude 
awakening  when  the  people  discovered  that 
the  great  mass  of  voters  had  abdicated  their 
rights  as  citizens  and  had  allowed  the  affairs  of 
government  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  self- 
seeking  politicians.  Why  was  it  that  so  many 
good  men  became  careless,  and  without  pro- 
test allowed  bad  men  to  rule  in  city  and  state? 
It  seems  to  have  been  the  result  of  an  intense 
individualism,  combined  with  a  desire  for 
wealth  and  personal  pleasure  which  made 
many  money-mad,  and  blinded  their  eyes  to 
all  else  of  social  import. 

If  a  city  is  composed  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand such  self-seeking  individuals,  each  seeking 
his  own  aggrandisement,  regardless  of  the  wel- 
fare of  others,  then  the  common  good  will  be 
without  a  champion,  and  the  democracy  that 
speaks  for  liberty,  equality  and  fraternity  will 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         17 

cease  to  have  a  following.  But  even  this  in- 
tense individualism  so  evident  in  the  pioneer 
might  not  have  produced  such  evil  results  had 
not  the  growth  of  modern  industrialism  with 
its  keen  competition  forced  men  into  un- 
scrupulous methods  in  order  to  win  financial 
success. 

To  some  this  government  was  only  a  means 
to  the  end  of  enabling  them  to  win  more  gold, 
even  though  every  dollar  of  their  swollen 
fortunes  was  a  dishonest  dollar.  In  order  to 
secure  in  office  men  that  were  susceptible  to 
bribery,  the  owners  of  monoplies  and  quasi- 
public  corporations  entered  into  politics  and 
used  every  effort  to  corrupt  the  electorate.  In 
this  way  they  became  enemies  of  every  reform 
demanded  by  justice  and  public  sentiment. 
In  city  and  state,  the  majority  of  legislators 
were  no  longer  servants  of  the  people,  but 
puppets  of  a  corrupt  boss. 

To  the  average  man  the  word  **politician" 
had  become  unsavory ;  therefore,  he  could  not 
afford  for  the  sake  of  his  business  or  good  name 
to  enter  into  a  campaign  for  a  public  office. 
Had  this  condition  gone  on  without  protest, 
our  vaunted  democracy  would  have  proved  a 
failure. 


18         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

But,  at  the  dawn  of  the  new  century,  a 
mighty  change  came  over  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  the  people.  Who  can  explain  this  great 
awakening  of  conscience,  this  arousing  of 
interest  in  the  common  good?  Who  were  the 
leaders  who  went  before  the  people  in  this 
crusade  for  the  right,  and  gave  the  word 
"responsibility"  a  new  import  to  thousands  of 
citizens?  It  may  not  be  difficult  to  call  the 
roll  of  these  new  crusaders,  but  after  all  may 
they  not  have  been  the  product  rather  than 
the  cause  of  the  mighty  awakening? 

A  change  has  come — not  complete,  it  is  true, 
but  a  beginning.  Not  all  business  men  are 
seeking  the  almighty  dollar  only;  and  some 
among  the  rich  are  coming  to  socialize  their 
wealth.  The  unsocial  forces  are  weakening 
and  the  bad  is  slowly  giving  away  to  the  good. 

Governor  Folk  emphasizes  this  point  when 
he  says:  "The  present  political  awakening 
marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  age.  The  next 
few  years  will  be  distinguished  as  the  time  in 
which  industrial  problems  are  solved,  the 
reign  of  special  privilege  brought  to  an  end, 
and  the  doctrine  of  equal  rights  fixed  in  poli- 
tics and  in  the  conscience  of  mankind." 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         19 

An  aroused  people  are  at  last  undertaking 
to  solve  the  problem  of  real  democracy.  While 
most  of  the  effort  is  put  forth  along  what 
might  be  termed  social  service  lines,  yet  the 
movement  has  reacted  upon  business,  and  new 
ideals  of  honesty  are  finding  a  place  in  the  "T" 
industrial  life  of  this  new  day.  (j/^ 

We  have  learned  that  honesty  is  the  best 
"politics,"  and  are  slowly  learning  that  all 
business,  public  or  private,  will  have  the  most 
permanent  success  which  is  based  on  honesty 
and  integrity.  The  individualism  of  a  past 
century  is  giving  away  before  the  coming 
co-operation  which  is  essential  to  the  welfare 
of  every  city  and  nation.  Who  can  say  that 
the  great  combination  of  citizens  for  the  ex- 
tension of  trade  and  the  improvement  of 
material  conditions  is  not  a  part  of  the  greater 
social  movement,  made  manifest  in  the  mighty 
changes  which  are  already  being  wrought  by 
the  closer  relations  of  all  nations. 

The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal,  while 
primarily  a  business  matter,  will  have  both 
ethical  and  social  results  which  will  touch 
society  in  a  thousand  different  ways.  The 
completion  of  the  Los  Angeles  harbor  will  put 


«0         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  southwest  in  touch  with  the  orient,  with 
South  America  and  Mexico,  in  a  way  that  will 
make  us  feel  that  brotherhood  is  not  bounded 
by  national  lines.  Nevertheless,  we  are  expect- 
ing the  greatest  results  from  the  combinations 
of  citizens  who  are  directly  interested  in  social 
service  work  of  a  special  character. 

There  are  now  great  organizations,  civic  and 
national,  whose  one  thought  is  that  of  political 
reform  and  reconstruction.  Municipal  and 
civic  leagues,  national  and  local;  voters' 
leagues  and  non-partisan  organizations  are 
militant  bodies  ever  on  the  firing  line  watching 
for  fraud  and  graft  and  illegal  voting.  Another 
group  of  citizens  organized  as  the  Anti-Saloon 
I.eague  are  ever  busy  in  the  political  field 
working  in  the  interest  of  saloon  suppression. 

In  many  cities  the  citizens  have  organized 
associations  for  education  along  the  lines  of 
higher  citizenship,  notably  the  City  Club, 
which  has  proven  a  great  factor  in  many  of 
the  largest  cities.  Within  the  last  few  years 
there  have  come  into  being  hundreds  of  citizens' 
organizations,  working  for  human  betterment; 
working  for  industrial  reform,  child  labor, 
better  conditions  for  women  workers,  shorter 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        n 

hours;  the  establishing  of  devices  that  will 
make  for  greater  safety  of  life  and  limb;  and 
for  the  passing  of  old-age  insurance  and  em- 
ployers' liability  laws.  Other  associations  are 
working  for  the  child,  in  women's  clubs,  civic 
associations,  and  mothers'  congresses,  seeking 
that  every  child  may  have  a  better  home,  a 
more  perfect  school,  and  the  divine  right  to 
play. 

So  long  as  party  machinery  and  other  gov- 
ernmental forms  remain  as  they  are  at  the 
present  time,  some  such  form  of  activity  on  the 
part  of  citizens  is  going  to  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary if  government  is  to  be  effective. 

The  National  American  Civic  Association 
is  an  organization  existing  for  the  direction 
of  the  forces  which  make  for  a  clean  and  beauti- 
ful country.  It  regards  the  home  as  the  unit 
of  our  national  life  and  the  improvement  of 
home  grounds  as  the  first  step  in  civic  better- 
ment. Co-operating  with  such  associations, 
the  municipal  art  commissions  and  park 
boards  are  seeking  to  make  the  city  beautiful, 
believing  that  by  ruralizing  the  city  it  may  be 
made  more  healthful  and  more  moral,  a  place 
where  the  good  may  be  made  attractive. 


22        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

In  the  growth  of  the  idea  of  true  citizen- 
ship, people  are  beginning  to  realize  that  there 
must  be  a  unit  in  city  life,  not  half  good  and 
half  bad,  not  half  clean  and  half  unsanitary, 
not  half  beautiful,  and  half  squalid;  but  every 
part  brought  up  to  the  highest  eflBciency. 

Working  to  this  end  there  are  many  asso- 
ciations and  congresses  studying  the  question 
of  health  and  attempting  to  eradicate  the 
causes  of  disease.  This  leads  into  many 
branches  of  work.  If  the  city  is  to  be  health- 
ful, the  tenement  and  slum  must  be  abolished, 
the  saloon  must  go,  the  water  supply  must  be 
guarded,  the  sewer  system  must  be  of  the  best, 
the  rats  and  flies  and  mosquitoes  must  be 
killed,  the  swamps  must  be  drained  and  great 
care  given  to  the  appointing  of  the  officials 
who  do  the  actual  work  of  the  health  depart- 
ments. Somebody  must  also  constantly 
watch  the  food  supply,  that  the  "pure  food 
laws,"  wrung  from  unwilling  legislatures,  may 
be  rigidly  enforced;  for  if  the  milk  supply,  for 
instance,  is  not  constantly  under  supervision, 
the  mortality  among  the  babies  will  help  to 
fill  the  Campo  Santo. 
•     But  there  are  diseases  which  are  not  local, 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        23 

but  interstate,  and  until  our  own  government 
can  enlarge  its  department  of  health,  national 
committees  of  citizens  must  work  together  for 
the  desired  end. 

There  are  other  great  national  and  local 
organizations  working  for  prison  reform,  for 
now  it  is  believed  that  much  of  crime  is  pre- 
ventable and  that  to  save  the  man  to  society 
is  worth  more  than  to  punish  the  criminal  for 
a  term  of  years.  It  was  soon  discovered  by 
those  who  worked  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Juvenile  Court  that  it  was  even  more 
necessary  to  organize  the  Juvenile  Improve- 
ment Association  and  strike  at  the  causes 
which  lead  the  young  into  criminal  life.  The 
National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correc- 
tion gives  up  most  of  its  program  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  causes  and  cure  of  destitution, 
crime  and  imbecility. 

The  average  citizen  of  today  is  more  of  a 
man  than  the  money-maker  of  a  generation 
ago.  His  sympathies  have  been  quickened, 
his  fellowship  is  larger,  he  has  a  more  perfect 
idea  of  government.  Men  of  great  ability 
and  great  wealth  are  beginning  to  use  their 
power  for  the  good  of  others.    The  captains 


24/     THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  industry  are  learning  that  to  be  good 
citizens,  they  must  devote  trained  intelligence 
to  the  building  up  of  city  and  national  life. 
Every  man  must  give  himself  to  others  if  the 
city  is  to  be  made  a  better  city  and  the  country 
a  better  country. 

The  business  methods  of  the  past  have  not 
been  such  as  to  inspire  the  captains  of  in- 
dustry to  enter  social  service.  The  dominant 
ideas  were  individualistic,  and  competition 
absolutely  eliminated  all  thought  of  the  rights 
and  interests  of  "the  other  fellow."  The 
governing  principle  was  "business  is  business," 
and  sentimentalism  found  no  place  in  the 
program. 

Great  fortunes  were  built  up  by  employing 
"hands"  instead  of  men  to  do  the  work. 
Little  thought  was  given  to  the  health,  safety, 
morals  or  happiness  of  employees.  If  they 
worked  through  the  long  hours  for  a  limited 
wage,  no  question  was  asked  whether  it  was  a 
living  wage;  if  disease,  accident  or  death  re- 
moved a  wage  earner,  never  mind,  there  were 
many  other  immigrants  ready  to  step  in  and  do 
the  work,  for  even  less  money. 

Not  all  employers  were  of  this  hard-hearted 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         25 

sort,  for  there  have  always  been  a  few  who 
understood  the  value  of  the  human  touch  in 
industry.  These  were  the  pioneers  of  the  new 
neighborliness;  others  watched  them  with  dis- 
trust, believing  that  their  humanitarian 
methods  were  mischievous  if  not  positively 
harmful.  But  when  those  who  criticized  saw 
that  in  the  factories  where  the  working  people 
received  consideration  there  was  less  friction 
and  the  output  was  better,  both  in  quality  and 
quantity,  they  began  to  ask  questions  and 
consider  the  welfare  of  their  employees. 

Mr.  Carnegie  claims  that  the  root  of  busi- 
ness must  be  always  service  to  the  community. 
If  the  business  man  is  to  be  a  helper  in  the 
betterment  of  society,  then  his  first  social 
work  ought  naturally  to  be  directed  to  the 
advancement  of  those  who  are  helping  to 
build  up  his  fortune. 

There  is  coming  into  existence  an  aristoc- 
racy of  wealth  which  is  just  as  un-American 
as  an  aristocracy  of  birth.  Without  con- 
sidering the  question  whether  the  many 
swollen  fortunes  were  obtained  by  fair  or  foul 
means,  it  remains  true  that  the  possession  of 
almost  unlimited  wealth  gives  greater  power 


26         THE  BETTER   COUNTRY 

than  was  exercised  by  the  kings  and  lords  of  a 
past  day.  That  the  possession  of  such  power 
is  working  for  evil  in  the  land  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  it  has  been  and  is  being  used  to  de- 
bauch senators  and  legislators,  and  thus  secure 
laws  in  favor  of  special  interests,  which  should 
have  been  made  for  the  good  of  all  the  people. 
This  power  has  also  been  used  to  influence 
judge  and  jury,  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
people  have  cried  out  that  justice  was  dead. 
Unless  a  rigid  inheritance  tax  can  break  up 
these  enormous  fortunes,  we  can  hardly 
imagine  what  will  happen  when  this  vast 
money  power  passes  into  the  hands  of  those 
who  have  not  earned  one  dollar  of  the  almost 
uncounted  gold  they  call  their  own  and  claim 
the  right  to  dispose  of  as  they  choose. 

Within  the  last  few  years  a  new  class  of 
capitalists  have  come  into  the  public  notice  and 
a  new  name  has  been  coined  to  describe  them, 
viz:  "Socialized  capitalists."  Under  the  old 
Jewish  dispensation,  men  regarded  their 
wealth  as  belonging  to  the  Lord,  and  from  the 
whole  they  gave  back  to  Him  each  year  a 
tithe  of  all  that  they  possessed.  In  this  new 
century  there  seems  to  be  at  least  a  few  capital- 
ists who  feel  that  wealth  is  commonwealth. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  27 

inasmuch  as  a  multitude  labored  together  to 
produce  it;  and  that,  therefore,  they  ought  to 
give  back  to  the  people  for  their  good  a  tithe,  at 
least,  of  the  fortune  which  they  had  hitherto 
considered  their  own.  True,  this  may  not  be 
the  course  of  reasoning  of  the  capitalist.  It 
may  be  because,  possessing  power,  he  delights 
to  do  things  worth  doing,  or  may  feel  that 
doing  helpful  things  is  the  only  way  of  winning 
the  favorable  regard  of  his  fellow-beings.  Yet 
I  prefer  to  believe  that  these  captains  of 
industry  have  at  last  felt  the  social  impulse 
which  is  moving  the  hearts  of  humbler  citizens, 
and  want  to  do  that  which  will  be  most  helpful 
from  their  point  of  view  for  all  their  fellow-men. 

But  cities  as  well  as  individuals  are  entering 
into  social  service.  The  great  corporations 
here  and  there  are  yielding  up  their  monopolies 
to  the  city,  and  the  citizens  are  receiving 
better  service  at  cheaper  rates.  Water,  gas, 
electricity,  street  railways,  are  among  the  few 
public  utilities  which  will  eventually  come  into 
public  ownership,  to  be  conducted  for  the 
common  good. 

The  health  of  the  people  is  of  paramount 
importance,  not  alone  the  health  of  the  favored 


28         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

classes,  but  the  health  of  all  the  people.  K 
disease  is  left  unchecked  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  wards,  the  prevailing  winds  may  carry 
the  scourge  to  every  home  in  the  ninth. 
Tuberculosis  in  the  sweatshop  may  carry  the 
white  plague  into  the  homes  where  the  fine 
linen  is  worn.  No  city  is  safe  from  disease  if 
spots  of  contagion  are  found  anywhere  within 
its  borders.  Thus  the  work  of  the  Board  of 
Health,  the  Housing  Commission,  and  the 
Water  Department  takes  on  new  importance, 
for  the  results  of  this  work  are  deeply  social. 
Working  faithfully  together,  these  boards  may 
prevent  the  spread  of  disease,  and  thus  lower 
the  rate  of  mortality. 

In  the  city  where  the  Board  of  Health  is 
efficient,  one  can  hardly  imagine  that  con- 
ditions could  exist  which  would  make  it  possi- 
ble for  a  scourge  to  sweep .  off  thousands  as  it 
did  in  St.  Petersburg.  A  clean  city  in  every 
part  is  the  only  ideal  for  a  Board  of  Health. 
Seeking  out  and  cleansing  the  source  of  disease 
is  better  work  than  the  building  of  hospitals 
for  the  scientific  cure  of  the  sick.  The  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  there  will  be  co-operating 
boards — national,  state  and  local — educating 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         29 

the  people  in  preventive  measures,  quarantin- 
ing against  foreign  plagues,  destroying  the 
germ  carriers,  cleansing  the  breeding  places, 
and  making  it  possible  to  check  all  disease  in 
its  incipiency. 

The  plumbing  and  sewer  inspector  may  en- 
tirely eliminate  sewer  gas,  that  dread  of  a 
former  day,  which  sent  so  many  little  ones 
from  the  tenement  to  the  potter's  field;  the 
Housing  Commission  in  a  city  can  see  to  it  that 
no  death-dealing  tenement  is  ever  erected,  but 
rather  that  the  people  are  scattered  in  de- 
tached houses  of  the  best  type;  the  Water 
Commission  must  watch  the  water  supply,  for 
one  case  of  typhoid  on  the  watershed  may 
scatter  germs  to  a  hundred  homes. 

Incidentally,  social  workers  in  many  other 
departments  help  much  in  making  a  city 
healthy,  such  as  food  and  milk  inspectors, 
district  and  school  nurses,  directors  of  play- 
grounds and  recreation  centers,  park  com- 
missioners and  tree  wardens,  and  all  civic 
reformers  who  are  working  for  a  higher 
grade  of  efficient  life. 

The  city  has  entered  into  social  service  in 
the   matter   of  education.     The  educational 


30         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

ideal  of  training  for  life  and  citizenship  has 
brought  about  many  radical  experiments  in 
education,  and  has  led  the  public  school  to 
broaden  its  scope  and  usefulness,  and  rapidly 
become  the  most  effective  agency  in  the  city 
for  spreading  happiness  and  wisdom  among  the 
people.  The  old  pouring-in  process  is  giving 
way  to  the  newer  idea  of  drawing  out  and  of 
learning  by  doing  things.  It  is  what  the  child 
learns  by  doing  that  counts. 

The  entire  life  of  the  child  is  now  under 
supervision;  his  physical  as  well  as  mental 
defects  are  remedied,  and  the  doctor  and  the 
specialist  are  now  closely  related  to  the  school. 
Proper  buildings  with  proper  provisions  for 
play  is  an  important  part  of  the  curriculum; 
and  thus  in  our  great  cities  there  has  come  a 
response  to  a  plea  for  a  better  chance  for  the 
children  of  the  congested  districts.  Instead 
of  dark  and  gloomy  school  buildings,  sur- 
rounded by  high  tenements,  the  Boston  archi- 
tect, J.  Randolph  Coolidge,  has  recommended 
the  erection  of  new  buildings  on  the  edge  of 
city  parks,  and  the  transportation  of  the 
children  to  and  fro  at  the  city's  expense. 
This  will  keep  them  all  day  from  the  peril  of 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         31 

the  streets,  and  give  them  supervised  play 
as  well  as  instruction.  This  may  prove  to  be 
the  best  possible  solution  of  the  problem  of  the 
child  in  the  congested  districts,  until  that  happy 
time  when  the  city  shall  be  able  to  break  up 
the  slum  and  scatter  the  population  out  into 
the  country. 

To  make  socially  effective  the  great  school 
buildings  with  their  millions  of  dollars  of 
investment,  they  must  be  used  for  more  than 
just  giving  so  much  instruction  to  the  child, 
important  as  that  may  be.  In  the  matter  of 
education  the  night  is  as  important  as  the  day. 
The  new  buildings  should  all  be  arranged  as 
neighborhood  centers,  for  lectures,  enter- 
tainments and  concerts.  The  adult  foreigners 
should  find  in  them  an  opportunity  not  alone 
to  learn  the  English  language,  but  also  to 
receive  their  first  lessons  in  citizenship.  A 
night  polytechnic  school  may  prove  to  be  of 
greater  value  than  a  day  one,  for  it  reaches 
those  who  otherwise  might  not  be  able  to 
secure  the  proper  equipment  for  life,  and  who 
without  it,  would  enter  life  with  a  handicap. 

The  city  is  becoming  interested  in  all  of 
its  future  citizens,  and  in  its  various  lines  of 


82         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

social  service  is  trying  to  reach  in  a  helpful 
way  everyone  who  needs.  The  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  park  idea,  from  the  small  flower 
plot  to  the  metropolitan  park  system,  shows 
how  great  value  is  placed  on  recreation  for 
all  the  people. 

Within  the  last  few  years  public  baths  have 
been  opened  in  nearly  all  of  the  great  cities  of 
the  land,  and  public  comfort  stations  are  now 
deemed  essential  to  the  health  and  morals  of 
city  dwellers. 

The  social  service  of  a  city  attracts  at- 
tention when  applied  to  the  recreation  of 
the  child.  The  playground  and  the  small 
recreation  park  is  in  fact  a  play  school  des- 
tined to  produce  great  results  for  the  nation. 
Supervised  recreation  reduces  crime,  promotes 
health,  cultivates  the  sense  of  others'  rights, 
teaches  the  value  of  community  life,  inspires 
to  cleanliness  of  body  and  neighborhood. 

The  city,  by  the  establishment  of  the  recrea- 
tion center  and  the  small  park  is  taking  to 
itself  much  of  the  work  of  the  social  settle- 
ment, and  because  it  is  supported  by  the 
people's  money  can  accomplish  a  much  larger 
work.  By  this  new  form  of  social  settlement 
the  foreigner  can  be  assimilated;  by  it  the  city 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         33 

becomes  the  teacher  of  the  immigrant,  where 
as  formerly  the  saloon  keeper  and  the  ward 
politician  were  the  only  instructors. 

Some  cities  have;  gone  into  the  life-saving 
business,  and  instead  of  degrading  manhood 
by  the  old  methods  of  punishment,  have 
undertaken  to  make  men  out  of  those  who 
have  gone  wrong.  Not  content  to  handle 
only  the  results  of  conditions  that  make  for 
crime,  they  have  gone  back  to  the  starting 
point.  They  are  asking  through  their  com- 
missions, judges  and  social  workers  what  the 
conditions  are  that  would  lead  a  boy  into 
crime.  Is  it  truancy?  Then  establish  a 
truant  school.  Is  it  bad  home  life?  Then 
if  the  home  can  not  be  remedied,  place  the 
boy  in  a  parental  school.  Does  the  boy  need 
a  guardian?  Place  him  on  probation  under 
the  care  of  a  large-hearted  man  or  woman. 
Let  the  adult  first  offenders  be  given  this  same 
treatment  and  the  majority  will  be  saved  from 
prison.  Let  the  victims  of  drink  work  on 
the  city  farm  rather  than  have  the  oft-re- 
peated jail  sentence.  Abolish  the  chain- 
gang,  as  Cleveland  is  doing  and  treat  every 
prisoner  as  a  man.     When  Tom  Johnson  was 


34         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

criticized  because  the  city  of  Cleveland  had 
not  made  money  out  of  the  prisoners  during 
his  administration,  he  replied:  *'We  are  not 
trying  to  make  money  out  of  prisoners;  we 
are  trying  to  make  men."  What  Cleveland 
is  doing  should  be  the  ideal  for  every  city. 
The  higher  ideals  of  service,  once  found  only 
in  the  church,  are  now  permeating  all  society. 
The  church  ought  to  rejoice  that  its  allies  in 
world  betterment  are  now  found  in  the  mart, 
the  court,  the  school,  and  in  legislative  hall. 

Our  cities  are  rapidly  becoming  great  in 
material  splendor.  It  remains  for  them  to 
become  great  in  the  higher  things  of  life. 
That  this  is  the  dominant  thought  of  this 
decade  is  shown  in  the  united  efforts  on  the 
part  of  groups  of  workers  and  city  officials  to 
recognize  as  curable  and  preventable  much  of 
the  disease,  accident,  crime,  and  poverty 
which  now  curse  the  city  life.  Governor 
Hughes  well  expressed  the  social  hope  when 
he  said:  "I  have  no  illusions  with  reference  to 
the  future.  Laziness,  thriftlessness,  evil  pas- 
sions, and  inordinate  appetite  will  continue 
to  wreck  human  lives.  But  we  can  replace 
ignorance  with  knowledge;  we  can  give  access 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         35 

to  air  and  light;  we  can  build  barriers  against 
infection;  we  can  keep  our  city  clean,  whole- 
some and  attractive;  we  can  see  to  it  that 
human  beings  may  labor  under  conditions 
with  proper  consideration  for  life  and  health 
and  eJHSciency,  and  we  can  make  work  for 
social  uplifting  fruitful  and  progressive." 

When  all  of  our  city  officials  remember 
that  they  are  servants  of  the  people,  then 
will  the  movement  for  the  social  uplift  go 
forward  with  greater  rapidity. 


CHAPTER  in 

Nations  at  Work  in  Human  Uplift 

The  governments  of  the  world  have  been 
subject  to  change;  the  absolute  becomes  the 
limited  or  constitutional  monarchy;  the  lim- 
ited or  constitutional  monarchy  becomes  the 
republic;  and  the  republic  itself  becomes  more 
and  more  democratic. 

The  early  American  idea  of  democracy  was 
that  the  least  government  possible  was  the 
best  government.  Everything  must  be  left 
to  private  initiative,  and  only  that  done  col- 
lectively which  evidently  must  be  done  to 
produce  the  best  results — such,  for  instance,  as 
the  care  of  streets,  of  the  postal  service,  of 
prisons,  and  later  the  oversight  of  the  public 
schools. 

But  private  conduct  of  public  service  soon 
produced  a  monopoly  and  the  people  were 
forced  ofttimes  against  their  will  to  take  on 
new  departments  of  public  service  for  the  com- 
mon good. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         37 

Yet,  inasmuch  as  the  cure  of  the  evils  of 
democratic  government  is  always  found  in 
more  democracy,  the  people  are  slowly  coming 
to  their  own,  and  they,  and  not  individuals  or 
corporations,  are  to  be  the  rightful  rulers. 

It  is  intensely  interesting  to  note  the  in- 
crease in  the  various  functions  of  government 
in  this  republic,  which  is  becoming  more  and 
more  paternal,  for  our  nation  is  now  doing 
things  for  the  good  of  all  the  people  which  our 
forefathers  would  have  thought  impossible. 
Scientists  and  psychologists  now  talk  of  the 
unity  of  all  life.  The  sociologist  is  basing  his 
plans  for  civic  betterment  and  social  ameliora- 
tion upon  the  same  principle. 

"No  man  liveth  unto  himself,"  is  more  than 
an  ancient  quotation;  it  is  a  statement  of  a 
fundamental  law  of  life.  Each  for  all,  and  all 
for  each,  is  a  modern  statement  of  the  same 
thought. 

"Everyone  for  himself"  is  the  law  of  the 
jungle.  But  slowly  a  new  form  of  expression 
is  shaping,  and  we  are  beginning  to  take  pride 
in  the  things  that  are  "ours,"  rather  than  in 
those  which  are  "mine." 

This  idea  of  the  unity  of  all  life  is  illustrated 


38  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

by  the  tendency  to  unify  interest  in  city,  state, 
nation,  and  in  the  larger  federation  of  the 
world.  It  is  noticeable  in  politics  and  re- 
ligion. The  search  is  going  on  for  a  common 
standing  ground,  and  for  unity  in  essentials. 
Fences  are  falling  and  non-essentials  are  for- 
gotten. Family  and  neighborhood  feuds,  rel- 
ics of  the  dark  ages,  are  now  being  supplanted 
by  eflForts  toward  co-operation  for  the  common 
good. 

If  unity  of  plan  and  effort  is  the  foreword 
for  the  next  decade  of  city  life,  much  more  is 
it  the  foreword  of  the  nation  as  a  whole.  The 
original  thought  of  a  confederation  of  states 
conferring  only  limited  powers  upon  the 
central  government  is  slowly  being  outgrown. 

This  nation  is  one  in  interest  and  destiny. 
The  Civil  War  settled  that  question  once  for 
all.  The  Mason  and  Dixon  line  had  to  be 
abolished,  and  so  must  all  other  lines  that 
separate.  The  south,  the  north,  the  east,  the 
west,  are  but  points  of  the  compass,  and  not 
sections  of  a  common  land — each  striving  for 
supremacy.  One  part  cannot  suffer  without 
aflFecting  the  others,  any  more  than  the  physi- 
cal body  can  be  well  when  one  member  is  dis- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         39 

eased.  If  New  Orleans  has  yellow  fever. 
New  York  is  alarmed;  if  Louisiana  has  the 
boll  weevil  in  its  cotton,  the  mills  of  Lowell 
and  Lawrence  at  once  feel  the  effect;  if  San 
Francisco  has  the  bubonic  plague,  Washington 
moves  for  a  nation-wide  campaign  against  the 
plague-breeding  rats.  The  cyclone,  tidal 
wave,  or  earthquake,  bringing  death  and  disas- 
ter to  thousands,  loosen  not  only  heart- 
strings, but  also  purse-strings  in  every  city 
and  village  of  the  land.  Sympathy  knows  no 
dividing  line;  suffering  eradicates  sectional 
feeling;  if  the  heart  is  inspired  with  brotherly 
love  it  will  not  be  long  until  the  mind  is  moved 
by  altruistic  impulse. 

As  a  nation,  each  part  is  interested  in  every 
other  part.  The  problems  of  city  government 
in  New  York  or  Philadelphia  are  as  much  ours 
as  the  nearer  problems  of  San  Francisco  and 
Los  Angeles.  Jacob  Riis  or  Jane  Addams  are 
working  not  alone  for  Manhattan  or  Chicago, 
but  for  the  City  of  the  Angels  as  well.  Be- 
cause of  the  '*Ten  Years'  War"  against  the 
slum  in  New  York,  it  will  be  easier  for  us  to 
keep  out  the  tenement  and  bring  in  the  play 
ground;  because  of  the  success  of  Hull  House, 


40         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

our  local  social  workers  will  be  able  to  do  far 
better  work  in  the  congested  neighborhoods. 

Our  nation  is  being  unified  by  the  rapid 
changes  in  population.  The  eastern  people 
are  flocking  to  California;  the  northerners  are 
flocking  to  the  southland;  the  negroes  are 
drifting  west  and  north;  the  Irish,  the  Cana- 
dians, and  the  Slavs  are  dispossessing  the 
Yankees  on  the  New  England  farms.  The 
fact  is  that  a  new  race  is  in  the  forming 
through  the  inter-marriage  of  Teuton,  Latin 
and  Slav  with  Pilgrim  and  Cavalier — a  new 
race,  the  most  wonderful  ever  known,  a  new 
race  in  which  pride  of  ancestry,  of  wealth,  of 
culture,  will  be  forgotten,  and  in  which  loyalty 
to  truth  and  right  will  be  the  ruling  motives. 

This  may  seem  like  a  dream  and  yet  it  is 
within  the  limits  of  possibility,  and  should 
become  the  vision  of  every  lover  of  his  fellow- 
men.  When  such  a  dream  shall  have  become 
an  actuality,  co-operation  for  the  common  good 
will  be  as  natural  as  has  been  the  keen  com- 
petition of  the  past  age. 

There  are  those  who  fear  the  growing  pater- 
nalism of  the  government,  but  it  seems  to  be 
one  of  the  great  world  movements,  and  cannot 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         41 

be  stayed.  More  and  more  our  nation  is  work- 
ing for  the  good  of  all,  caring  for  the  health 
and  happiness  of  the  weakest  and  the  most 
ignorant.  It  is  in  social  service  as  well  as  the 
city  and  the  individual. 

When  we  think  of  the  unity  of  the  American 
people  it  takes  no  great  stretch  of  the  imagina- 
tion to  widen  our  thought  to  the  unity  of 
all  mankind.  Already  we  have  movements 
which  point  to  a  great  world-brotherhood  as  a 
final  consummation.  Famine  in  India,  China, 
or  Russia  calls  forth  gifts  of  grain  and  money 
from  America.  The  Red  Cross  and  the  Peace 
Congress  show  that  the  unity  of  all  mankind 
is  not  an  empty  phrase.  The  world  is  slowly 
outgrowing  its  local  battles  and  class  con- 
tentions. Let  us  hope  that  our  own  beloved 
nation  may  lead  in  the  movement  of  es- 
tablishing the  "parliament  of  man,  the  federa- 
tion of  the  world." 

"Nations  at  work  in  human  uplift" — that 
sounds  well  but  it  has  not  always  been  the 
watchword  for  the  rich  political  or  industrial 
feudal  lords.  Those  who  needed  the  helping 
hand  the  least  have  always  received  the 
greatest  share  of  attention  from  their  govern- 


4«         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

ments.  But  a  change  of  thought,  of  purpose, 
of  effort,  is  now  in  evidence  in  every  nation. 
The  larger  good  for  "the  all"  is  meaning  more 
than  the  gaining  of  riches  and  power  by 
"the  few." 

You  who  read  are  realizing  a  change  within 
your  own  minds,  a  new  altruistic  spirit  has 
taken  possession  of  you,  and  you  are  thinking 
of  "the  other  fellow,"  the  man  without  a 
chance,  the  one  who  has  never  known  the 
equality  of  opportunity.  What  is  true  in 
your  experience  is  also  true  in  the  collective 
mind  in  city,  state,  and  nation;  for,  are  we 
not  living  in  the  time  of  a  great  spiritualized 
social  awakening.'^ — a  time  which  marks  a 
great  world  epoch,  the  issues  of  which  w^hen 
written  as  history  will  seem  as  great  and  even 
greater  than  any  of  the  world's  historic 
revolutions? 

These  are  the  days  of  the  rise  of  the  common 
man,  and  there  are  signs  on  every  side  that  the 
nations  of  the  earth  are  taking  heed  of  the 
weak  and  the  unfortunate,  and  that  "the 
slum  is  to  be  far  more  an  object  of  considera- 
tion than  the  palace,  the  money-market,  or 
even  the  factory." 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         43 

But  why  this  awakened  interest  in  sub- 
merged citizenship?  Why  not  continue  giving 
the  charity  dole,  or  building  the  almshouse 
and  the  prison?  Because  the  old  way  is  too 
costly  in  life,  in  character,  and  even  in  those 
things  that  bear  the  stamp  of  the  "dollar 
mark," 

It  costs  a  nation  too  much  to  allow  a  large 
percentage  of  its  people  to  dwell  down  deep 
in  the  social  cellars.  The  world  is  learning 
that  it  pays  to  lift  men  to  a  higher  social, 
economic,  and  moral  level;  for  the  downward 
drift  has  always  meant  loss  of  human  efficiency 
and  that  is  always  a  heavy  loss  to  the  state. 
The  sociologists  have  figured  out  that  every 
efficient  man  is  worth  so  many  hundred  dollars 
each  year  to  the  state  of  which  he  is  an  eco- 
nomic part.  Then  the  outworking  of  the 
old  law  of  the  ''survival  of  the  fittest"  means  a 
distinct  loss  of  so  much  wealth  to  the  nation 
as  represented  by  those  who  have  been  pressed 
to  the  wall  and  destroyed  by  their  stronger 
mates.  Influenced  by  the  newer  law  of  love, 
the  grander  work  of  making  others  "fit  to 
survive"  will  produce  results  which  will  mean 
great  wealth  for  the  nation. 


44         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  poverty  of  slum  life  never  builds  up, 
never  adds  power,  but  rather  weakens  physi- 
cally, makes  its  victim  less  valuable  as  a 
working  force,  and  causes  him  to  fall  an  easy 
prey  to  the  evil  temptations  of  his  environ- 
ment. He  who  is  forced  to  live  in  a  tenement, 
becomes  a  menace  rather  than  a  blessing  to 
society.  The  disease  and  the  crime  of  these 
plague  spots  are  sure  to  spread  to  the  more 
healthful  neighborhoods,  bringing  sorrow  and 
death  to  many  households. 

All  this  is  preventable  when  we  know  the 
cause;  and  if  so,  why  should  there  be  distress 
and  sickness  and  misery  in  the  land  when 
science  or  money  or  legislation  can  change 
the  condition  that  produces  them?  Perhaps 
the  city  or  state  alone  cannot  accomplish  this 
end,  but  when  the  nation  works  on  the  prob- 
lem of  crime  and  pauperism  with  the  same  sane 
and  scientific  spirit  with  which  she  drains  the 
swamp  in  order  to  destroy  the  malaria-bearing 
mosquito,  then  will  we  be  nearing  its  solution. 

Not  charity,  but  justice;  not  philanthrophy 
which  does  something  for  others,  but  the  spirit 
of  co-operation  which  works  with  others;  not 
individual  eiTort  but  collective  power  apphed 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         45 

to  great  undertakings,  is  the  way  out.  If  the 
group  working  together  in  corporations  can 
amass  wealth,  then  the  strong  souls  of  a 
nation,  united  in  effort,  ought  to  produce 
health  and  happiness  for  all  the  people. 

This  book  is  written  to  show  that  the 
United  States  as  a  government  has  entered 
into  social  service,  but  this  nation  is  not 
unique  in  this  grand  work;  in  fact,  some  of  the 
nations  are  in  many  ways  leading  us  in  the 
work  for  the  common  good.  Without  pre- 
tense of  making  an  exhaustive  report  of  wel- 
fare work  among  all  nations,  we  offer  a  few 
examples  by  way  of  argument  to  prove  that 
the  tendency  of  the  nations  is  to  work  more 
and  more  for  human  uplift. 

England  is  doing  her  part  toward  the  so- 
lution of  the  world's  great  social  problems. 
Among  her  various  methods  those  which  are 
attracting  the  attention  of  every  nation  are 
co-operation,  public  ownership,  and  municipal 
trading.  Yet  these,  helpful  as  they  are,  may 
not  be  real  solutions,  but  only  guide-posts 
pointing  the  way  out  of  the  wilderness  of 
human  misery. 


46         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

They  tell  us*  today  that  the  great  co-opera- 
tive movement  bids  fair  to  absorb  the  entire 
trade  of  Great  Britain.  But  this  did  not  seem 
possible  away  back  in  1843  when  twenty -eight 
Rochdale  weavers  who  had  lost  in  a  strike  for 
higher  wages,  facing  greater  poverty,  wrought 
out  the  simple  plan  of  co-operation  in  their 
little  store  in  Toad  Lane.  A  pitifully  small 
beginning!  But  these  early  pioneers  of  Roch- 
dale were  dominated  by  a  new  spirit  of  service; 
they  were  workers  together  for  the  good  of  all. 
They  refused  to  enter  upon  the  warfare  of 
competition  for,  to  them,  such  a  course  was 
immoral ;  so  like  all  others  under  the  rule  of  an 
ideal,  they  labored  on,  sacrificing,  teaching, 
saving,  until  the  spirit  of  co-operation  which 
they  kindled  and  the  co-operative  movement 
which  they  inaugurated  spread  to  every  part 
of  the  land.  The  simple  plan  which  they 
evolved  was  this:  After  the  initial  member- 
ship fee  was  paid,  each  member  received  his 
part  of  the  profits  in  proportion  to  his  pur- 
chases. That  seems  simple  enough  but  by 
this  means  the  profits,  which  otherwise  would 

•Charles  Edward  Russell,  author  of  "Soldiers  of  the  Common 
Good,"  is  authority  for  many  of  the  statements  of  fact  in  this 
chapter. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         47 

have  gone  to  individuals  or  to  trusts,  went 
back  to  the  people.  Instead  of  the  common 
people's  money  going  to  build  up  great  for- 
tunes, it  returned  to  the  homes  that  might 
otherwise  be  barren  of  comforts,  bringing  at 
least  a  measure  of  those  things  which  make 
life  worth  the  living.  Already  over  two  mil- 
lion of  people  are  banded  together  in  the 
British  co-operative  societies,  and  that  number 
is  rapidly  increasing.  They  have  established, 
not  alone  retail  stores,  but  also  warehouses, 
wholesale  houses,  manufactories,  transporta- 
tion facilities,  banks,  printing  establishments, 
home  building  societies,  and  almost  every 
kind  of  commercial  enterprise.  Sooner  or 
later  the  trust  must  fall  before  this  co-opera- 
tive movement  in  England,  and  then  will 
competition,  backed  by  concentrated  wealth, 
receive  its  death-blow. 

'  The  idea  of  co-operation  has  seemed  good 
to  many  other  peoples — France  and  Germany 
now  possess  many  co-operative  workshops, 
stores  and  agricultural  societies.  Austria, 
Switzerland,  Holland,  Italy,  Sweden,  Belgium, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  collectively  count  a 
co-operative    membership    reaching  into  the 


48         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

millions.  Co-operation  means  more  than  the 
saving  of  money  for  the  obtaining  of  physical 
comforts.  It  has  a  spiritual  side.  "It  exists 
to  make  life  better."  "These  co-operators 
believe  that  this  movement  will  work  to 
destroy  race  prejudice,  break  down  national 
barriers,  obliterate  armaments,  and  bring 
about  universal  peace."  Great  as  has  been  the 
good  accomplished  by  the  wonderful  Rochdale 
movement  started  by  the  Toad  Lane  weavers, 
the  London  slum  still  exists,  and  co-operation 
has  not  yet  touched  the  starving  millions  of 
the  submerged  tenth.  The  evolution  of  the 
common  good  is  not  yet  complete  in  England, 
or  in  any  other  favored  nation.  But  England 
has  had  a  vision  that  there  is  a  still  more 
excellent  way  of  levelling  up  the  world's 
workers,  of  dispelling  poverty,  and  of  giving 
every  man  a  chance.  It  has  said,  "Let  the 
public  utilities  be  publicly  owned  and  operated 
and  then  the  rates  will  be  reduced  and  better 
service  secured  for  all." 

No  city  has  ever  undertaken  such  hmnan- 
itarian  work,  or  made  such  effort  to  use  its 
municipal  powers  for  the  good  of  its  lowliest 
citizens,  as  the  great  city  of  London;  and  yet, 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         49 

when  the  London  County  Council  was  formed, 
no  one  ever  dreamed  that  one  day  it  would 
not  only  operate  valuable  franchises  but 
would  outdo  the  whole  world  along  the  line  of 
municipal  trading.  Fifty  years  ago,  trade 
held  sway,  the  city  lacked  in  artistic  ideals, 
and  was  filled  with  grafting  scandals,  familiar 
to  American  ears.  In  self-defence,  parliament 
created  a  new  kind  of  board  to  administer  the 
affairs  of  the  greater  city  and  gave  them  extra- 
ordinary powers.  This  council  is  composed 
of  118  members,  chosen  by  the  qualified 
voters;  and  19  aldermen,  otherwise  chosen. 
These  all  serve  without  pay  and  consider  it  a 
high  honor  to  be  of  service  to  their  fellow-men. 
The  business  of  this  council  is  to  provide 
whatever  can  be  provided  by  government  to 
make  life  safer  and  more  comfortable.  The 
story  of  what  this  great  council  has  under- 
taken and  accomplished  reads  like  that  of  a 
peaceful  revolution.  It  has  secured  a  majority 
of  the  street  railways,  and  operates  them  in 
the  interests  of  the  people.  It  has  some  two 
score  housing  enterprises,  putting  many  mil- 
lions into  an  effort  to  make  comfortable  and 
healthful  homes  for  its  congested  population. 


60         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

For  instance,  it  has  covered  225  acres  of 
Tottenham  with  flat  houses,  accommodating 
many  thousands  of  persons.  It  has  built 
cheap  lodging-houses,  straightened  and  broad- 
ened streets,  let  the  light  into  innumerable 
tenements,  built  bridges,  doubled  the  park 
area,  opened  playgrounds  and  baths.  In 
place  of  building  a  bridge  across  the  Thames 
at  Woolwich,  it  runs  a  free  ferry.  It  runs 
municipal  theatres  and  is  trafficking  and  sell- 
ing like  an  ordinary  merchant.  This  is  going 
a  long  way  toward  reaching  those  beneath  the 
line,  yet  there  is  a  vast  population  still  denied 
opportunity,  and  what  is  a  man  without  a 
chance  to  live.'^ 

Many  other  English  cities  are  coming  to  own 
public  utilities,  and  so  rapidly  is  this  absorbing 
of  private  business  going  on  that  a  careful 
investigator  claims  that  "private  ownership 
of  franchises  abroad  is  doomed."  This  again 
is  England's  effort  "to  protect  the  less  fortu- 
nate from  greed,  to  keep  the  weak  from  being 
the  prey  of  the  strong,  to  deal  with  the  situa- 
tion in  which  one  man  has  too  much  and 
another  too  little,  in  which  power  gravitates 
into  the  hands  of  a  few  to  the  injury  of  the 
many.'* 


THE     BETTER  COUNTRY        51 

Public  ownership,  as  one  method  of  solving 
these  problems,  has  gone  beyond  the  days  of 
experiment.  Few  persons  there  are  who 
would  return  to  the  old  days  of  private  owner- 
ship and  competition. 

The  list  of  English  cities  which  have  taken 
over  or  built  new  street-car  systems  is  a  long 
one,  and  while  not  all  lines  have  returned  great 
profits,  thereby  lowering  taxes,  yet  because 
these  railways  owned  and  operated  by  muni- 
cipalities, "supply  vast  populations  with  fre- 
quent, comfortable,  quick,  and  wonderfully 
cheap  transportation,"  this  method  is  pre- 
ferred to  the  old  way  which  is  characterized  by 
an  almost  utter  disregard  for  the  interests  of 
the  public. 

Gas,  electric,  and  telephone  companies  are 
rapidly  being  absorbed  by  the  cities  as  their 
franchises  run  out;  one-third  to  one-half  of 
the  cities  now  owning  these  utilities,  giving 
the  people  far  better  results  at  cheaper  rates. 
Scores  of  other  large  cities  as  well  as  London 
are  now  building  model  tenements  and  cottages 
to  take  the  place  of  the  miserable  habitations 
of  the  slum  dwellers.  Lodging  houses  con- 
ducted  by   municipalities   are   increasing  in 


52         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

number.  Slaughter  houses  owned  and  oper- 
ated by  municipalities  insure  pure  food  for 
the  people. 

It  is  true  that  co-operative  public  ownership 
and  municipal  trading  have  not  yet  trans- 
formed England  into  a  co-operative  common- 
wealth; yet  they  are  helping  to  realize  the 
social  ideal  of  "obtaining  social  wealth  for 
social  use,'*  and  are  securing  to  the  people 
more  of  the  fruits  of  their  toil. 

Germany,  both  municipally  and  nationally, 
is  at  work  in  human  uplift.  Believing  that 
whatever  makes  the  poorest  people  healthy 
insures  a  strong  nation,  it  is  endeavoring  to 
make  every  city  a  slumless  metropolis;  for 
dark,  noisome  tenements  threaten  national 
vigor.  The  houses  of  the  poor  are  in  broad 
sunny  streets,  which  are  kept  as  clean  as  the 
finest  boulevards,  and  the  fronts  of  the  houses 
themselves  look  like  a  hanging  garden,  for 
every  housewife  vies  with  her  neighbor  in 
making  an  artistic  window  box  filled  with 
flowers  and  vines.  This  is  possible  in  Ger- 
many, for  there  the  paternal  government 
can  efiEectually  regulate  the  construction  of 
tenements;  can  insist  on  wide  courts,  forbid 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         53 

dark  rooms,  inspect  the  sanitary  arrangements 
and  regulate  the  lighting  and  cleaning  of  the 
halls. 

If  in  Berlin  the  slum  can  become  a  national 
asset,  if  the  poor  can  be  housed  with  decency 
and  comfort,  then  is  there  reason  why  any  city 
in  any  land  should  have  a  submerged  area? 

Germany  has  undertaken  public  ownership 
to  such  an  extent  that  an  individualist  might 
expect  that  all  private  initiative  was  destroyed, 
but  this  is  not  so;  and  there  are  few  outside  of 
the  special  interests  who  would  ask  the  govern- 
ment to  be  less  paternal.  It  seems  to  please, 
and  a  referendum  would  surely  sustain  the 
government  and  call  for  a  still  further  exten- 
sion of  public  ownership. 

The  government  owns  and  operates  the 
telegraph  and  telephone  systems  and  in  fact 
in  most  European  countries  these  are  part  of 
the  postal  system.  The  German  government 
owns  the  railways,  and  they  are  run  in  the 
interest  of  the  traveling  public,  who  are 
treated  as  the  guests  of  the  roads.  The  ques- 
tion of  dividends  is  secondary  to  the  comfort 
and  accommodation  of  the  people,  and  yet 
they  pay  the  government  large  returns.    The 


54         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

railways  are  not  in  politics,  nor  are  there  rail- 
way lobbies  as  in  this  country,  and  so  the 
people  are  the  parties  who  are  benefited  by 
every  dollar  earned. 

Look  at  the  side  of  human  waste.  "Every 
week  we  kill  more  people  than  are  killed  on 
the  entire  German  railroad  system  in  one  year." 
In  order  to  increase  transportation  facilities, 
this  government  is  spending  $350,000,000  on 
water  transportation  schemes.  It  goes  with- 
out the  saying  that  that  which  is  aesthetic  in 
music  and  art  and  architecture  has  not  been 
neglected  by  a  nation  which  seems  to  regard 
the  health,  education  and  happiness  of  its 
people  as  of  the  greatest  moment. 

Many  other  nations  have  a  growing  sense 
of  social  responsibility.  The  Scandinavian 
countries  are  struggling  toward  the  ideal  of 
equality:  ''Everybody's  rights — the  rights  of 
women  as  well  as  of  men — of  farmers  as  well 
as  urbanites;  of  the  poor  as  well  as  of  the 
rich." 

Sweden  has  a  broad  conception  of  the  term 
public  health: — as  meaning  soundness,  vigor, 
abounding  vitality.  To  secure  this  end  the 
nation  has  developed   a  system  of  exercise 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        55 

which  everyone  must  follow.  They  also  fur- 
nish to  the  school  children  free  baths,  free 
dinners,  free  school  books,  free  doctors,  free 
dentists,  and  free  oculists;  and  are  no  more 
pauperized  thereby  than  are  our  pupils  by 
free  instruction. 

In  Norway  three-fifths  of  the  women  vote 
for  members  of  Parliament,  and  now  Sweden 
joins  Finland  in  giving  parliamentary  fran- 
chise to  women. 

All  Scandinavian  countries  are,  through  the 
establishment  of  the  Peoples'  High  Schools  in 
the  rural  districts,  creating  a  reaction  towards 
country  life.  The  dwellers  in  the  crowded 
tenements  are  being  turned  toward  the  open 
fields.  This  initial  movement  is  destined  to 
spread  around  the  world,  as  people  learn  that 
it  is  necessary  to  break  up  congestion,  to 
ruralize  the  city,  and  to  urbanize  the  country. 

In  America  concentrated  capital  stands  in 
the  way  of  the  common  good.  But  Japan, 
learning  a  lesson  from  our  failure  to  regulate 
monopoly,  after  the  great  war  was  over  be- 
came an  economic  revolutionist;  and  as  a 
government  became  banker,  trader,  and  trust 
magnate;  thus  settling  for  all  time  the  possible 
dominance  of  selfish  capital. 


56         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Seven  railway  kings  of  the  United  States 
undertook  to  absorb  the  railways  of  Mexico; 
and  as  they  had  never  been  checked  before, 
success  was  assumed;  but  the  President  of 
the  Republic  did  not  intend  that  the  country 
should  be  dominated  by  foreign  railway  kings, 
so  he  quietly  went  into  the  market  and  bought 
for  his  nation  a  majority  of  the  stock,  and  the 
rule  by  railways  was  stopped  forever.  Does 
this  foreshadow  the  day  when  our  land  may  be 
freed  from  the  rule  of  Wall  Street,  and  oppor- 
tunity given  again  for  the  government  to  be 
administered  in  the  interest  of  all  the  people? 

Switzerland,  the  most  democratic  govern- 
ment in  the  world,  has  taken  over  its  railway, 
telegraph,  and  telephone  service,  and  operates 
them  strictly  for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  Its 
post-oflSce  service  and  public  school  system  are 
of  the  best.  Everything  that  the  student 
needs  in  the  schools  is  furnished  free,  and  yet 
this  does  not  pauperize  this  liberty  loving 
people.  This  is  a  land  without  a  trust,  without 
graft,  and  without  a  political  boss,  for  there 
the  people  rule.  If  other  nations  can  take 
over  the  great  public  utilities  and  so  operate 
them  that  it  will  prove  a  benefit  to  all  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         57 

people,  surely  this  nation  with  its  general  care 
for  the  common  good,  ought  easily  to  find  a 
way  of  absorbing  the  vested  interests  which 
seem  now  to  be  a  menace  to  its  free  govern- 
ment. 

But  perhaps  nowhere  in  all  the  world  has 
such  rapid  progress  been  made  toward  the 
co-operative  Commonwealth  as  in  the  two 
British  colonies  in  the  far  south  seas —  Austra- 
lia and  New  Zealand.  Not  many  years  ago 
Australia  was  under  the  power  of  a  land  mo- 
nopoly .  After  the  great  rush  for  gold  was  over, 
there  were  those  who  saw  greater  opportunities 
for  wealth  and  secured  from  the  Crown,  grants 
of  millions  of  acres  of  the  choicest  lands.  A 
landed  aristocracy  was  formed,  and  the  labor- 
ing man,  no  matter  how  great  his  land-hunger, 
was  not  allowed  to  secure  enough  of  it  for  his 
own  tilling.  This  condition  at  last  became  in- 
tolerable, and  a  determined  eflfort  was  made  by 
labor  and  its  sympathizers  to  break  up  the  rule 
of  the  landed  gentry,  and  substitute  for  it  the 
rule  of  the  democracy.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  the  six  original  colonies 
were  merged  into  the  "Commonwealth  of 
Australia,"   under   a  federal   constitution — a 


58         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

compromise  government — something  between 
that  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Then 
it  was  that  working-men,  carpenters,  brick- 
layers, stonemasons,  farm  laborers  secured  con- 
trol of  the  government.  Those  that  have  been 
dispossessed  of  power  say  that  the  country 
is  being  ruined  by  these  "low  fellows"  with 
their  freak  legislation;  but  those  who  have 
carefully  studied  the  situation  claim  that  there 
they  are  doing  the  things  worth  doing — the 
things  for  the  common  good,  which  others  have 
only  been  dreaming  about.  It  is  evident  that 
these  labor  leaders  are  not  extremists,  but 
"strive  only  to  remedy  the  wrong  that  lies  a 
stumbling  stone  in  the  path  of  progress."  In 
national  affairs,  they  are  seeking  to  secure  the 
public  ownership  of  every  private  monopoly; 
letting  the  government  own  the  trusts  that 
they  may  be  administered  for  the  welfare  of  all. 
The  public  ownership  of  railways,  telegraph 
and  telephone  systems  seems  to  be  pleasing  to 
all,  and  provides  for  better  service  than  when 
under  private  control.  The  parcel  post,  carry- 
ing parcels  eleven  pounds  in  weight,  frees  the 
people  from  the  excessive  charges  of  the  ex- 
press companies.     So  we  see  that  in  our  desire 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         59 

to  try  new  legislation,  we  need  not  experiment; 
for  we  can  find  all  the  changes  which  have  ever 
been  suggested  successfully  w^orked  out  in  these 
lands  beyond  the  sea — woman  suffrage,  old- 
age  pensions,  compulsory  arbitration,  and  so 
forth — and  their  success  in  Australia  ought  to 
warrant  their  adoption  in  this  older  Common- 
wealth. 

Still  farther  on  the  road  to  the  common  good 
is  the  island  nation  of  New  Zealand,  where  the 
government  seems  to  care  most  for  the  least 
fortunate.  This  is  the  "world's  economic 
laboratory,"  but  it  was  not  always  such,  for  a 
score  of  years  ago  "the  few"  owned  the  land 
and  "the  many"  dwelt  in  poverty  in  the  cities. 
It  is  a  familiar  story,  this  struggle  for  the  rights 
of  the  common  people.  How,  when  the  work- 
ingmen  gained  political  power,  they  were  wise 
enough  to  do  what  the  privileged  classes  in  our 
land  have  as  yet  not  found  a  way  for  doing. 
The  law  which  these  new  lawmakers  worked 
out,  taxed  so  heavily  the  unimproved  estates 
which  were  held  as  sheep  pastures  that  most 
of  the  owners  were  glad  to  sell  to  the  govern- 
ment, while  others  were  forced  to  sell.  The 
government  subdivided  the  land  and  leased  it 


60         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

on  such  simple  terms  that  every  man  was  able 
to  secure  a  home  if  he  was  an  industrious 
citizen.  Even  the  tramps  were  set  to  work 
on  the  roads  and  railroads,  and  paid  partly 
in  land,  so  that  the  tramp  became  a  tax  payer. 
The  secretary  of  the  Labor  Department  re- 
ports that  he  has  put  ten  thousand  men  on 
the  land  who  otherwise  could  have  done  no 
better  than  to  drift  along  on  the  perilous  edge 
of  day  labor,  and  to  fall  into  dire  straits  at  the 
first  calamity. 

Compare  this  with  the  condition  of  the  slum 
dwellers  of  London  or  that  of  the  army  of  the 
unemployed  in  our  own  land.  New  Zealand 
has  given  full  suffrage  to  its  women,  even  to 
the  Maori  women,  and  does  not  regret  it. 
There  the  nation  owns  the  railways,  tele- 
phones, and  telegraph  lines,  and  thus  is  able 
to  strike  at  the  source  of  much  of  the  graft 
with  which  we  are  so  familiar.  The  govern- 
ment is  acquiring  land  in  the  suburbs  of  cities, 
and  is  putting  up  model  cottages  for  working- 
men's  homes.  It  loans  money,  and  gives  old 
age  pensions;  and  by  the  enforcement  of  the 
arbitration  law  has  succeeded  in  stopping 
strikes  and  lockouts.     This  island  government. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  61 

under  the  leadership  of  men  who  have  earned 
their  living  by  common  labor,  has  made  life 
worth  living  for  the  great  mass  of  men  who 
before  were  struggling  for  existence.  It  has 
surely  paid  all  of  these  nations  to  work  for 
human  uplift. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Wealth  for  all  the  People 

The  existence  of  a  few  swollen  fortunes  can 
never  make  a  wealthy  nation.  The  owning  of 
the  sources  of  wealth  by  a  few  persons  creates 
an  industrial  feudalism,  with  serfs  and  re- 
tainers, more  vicious  than  the  feudalism  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  Recognizing  this  as  an  estab- 
lished fact,  many  nations  are  now  moving  to 
limit  greed  and  bring  about  a  more  just  dis- 
tribution of  wealth. 

The  previous  chapter  has  shown  the  methods 
employed — such  as  public  ownership,  muni- 
cipal trading,  co-operation,  taxation  of  un- 
improved lands,  exemption  of  improvements, 
excess  condemnation,  income  and  inheritance 
taxes,  all  of  which  make  it  more  difficult  to 
build  up  and  pass  on  great  estates  to  those 
who  labored  not  to  produce  them. 

In  no  land  is  the  idea  of  private  possession 
held  more  sacred  than  in  America.  This 
nation  has  become  money-mad,  and  a  new 
conscience,  and  new  decalog  have  been  evolved. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         63 

A  new  educational  propoganda  is  demanded, 
placing  the  emphasis  on  commonwealth  as 
over  against  private  wealth;  for  under  the 
influence  of  the  desire  of  gain  for  personal  ends, 
the  larger  idea  of  service  for  others  is  fast 
losing  its  power.  In  every  money  market  of 
the  land  may  be  found  thousands  who  are 
individualists  in  an  age  demanding  social 
action.  These  men  warring  against  all  social- 
istic advance,  are  anarchists  in  their  disregard 
for  law,  and  in  their  contempt  for  government. 
The  massing  of  unlawful  gains  has  caused  a 
reaction — a  peaceful  social  revolution  which 
will  yet  check  these  lawbreakers,  and  bring 
about  a  more  just  distribution  of  wealth 
through  a  greater  equality  of  opportunity. 
The  ideal  society  is  surely  without  extremes 
of  poverty  or  riches,  providing  a  competence 
for  all,  lifting  all  the  people  above  want,  taking 
away  from  them  the  fear  of  the  poor-house, 
giving  every  man  who  is  willing  and  able  to 
work  a  chance  for  himself,  and  for  securing  a 
home  and  an  education  for  his  family.  In  it 
the  law,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself,"  is  put  into  practice.  What  do  you 
wish  for  yourself — a  vocation,  an  avocation,  a 


64         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

home,  education,  friends,  opportunity?  Then 
according  to  this  law  these  things  which  you 
wish  for  yourself  you  wish  for  every  other  man. 
This  is  the  new  ideal  of  social  service — the 
seeking  to  secure  health,  wealth  and  happiness 
for  all  the  people.  Few  realize  to  what  extent 
this  nation  has  gone  in  its  effort  to  change  con- 
ditions and  bring  about  a  more  just  and  equit- 
able distribution  of  its  vast  wealth. 

This,  then,  is  the  story  which  we  are  to  tell, 
the  story  of  a  nation  at  work  in  internal  im- 
provement, rather  than  in  foreign  conquest — 
in  enriching  the  common  people  rather  than  in 
aiding  a  favored  few. 

The  real  wealth  of  a  nation  does  not  consist 
in  its  great  congested  cities  with  their  trade 
and  commerce,  their  industrial  plants,  their 
skyscrapers,  their  trusts  and  banks  and 
corporations;  for  the  wealth  which  is  abiding, 
the  wealth  which  gives  true  worth  to  a  nation 
is  found  in  the  strong  character,  the  vigorous 
manhood  of  its  citizenship,  in  the  proper  edu- 
cation of  its  children,  and  in  the  happy  homes 
in  beautified  cities  which  take  the  place  of  the 
hovel  and  the  ghetto. 

Fundamental    to    the    conserving    of    this 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         65 

higher  wealth  of  a  nation  lies  the  proper  use 
of  its  land  and  water;  for  if  ever  the  urban 
population  should  exceed  the  rural,  then  will 
the  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  forces 
be  weakened,  and  the  nation  will  be  poorer 
because  of  it.  This  is  the  reason  for  the  cry 
"back  to  the  land" — voicing  the  desire  to 
escape  from  the  artificiality  of  the  city  to  the 
simpler  and  i;nore  healthful  life  to  be  found 
near  to  nature — and  from  the  warfare  of  the 
competitive  struggle  to  the  fraternal  co- 
operation of  the  modern  agricultural  commu- 
nity. Not  alone  then  does  the  higher  wealth, 
but  also  that  lower  wealth  which  is  expressed 
in  dollars,  lie  in  the  development  of  a  nation's 
land  and  water.  The  man  who  makes  the 
soil  productive  is  a  real  wealth  maker  of  the 
nation;  for  our  food  supply  is  of  far  greater 
importance  than  all  our  luxuries.  The  man 
who  utilizes  the  forces  and  materials  of  nature 
produces  for  the  welfare  of  humanity  in  grain 
and  fruit  and  vegetables  more  wealth  than  is 
drawn  from  all  the  gold  mines  in  the  world. 

The  proper  use,  and  just  distribution  of  the 
nation's  vast  domains  may  well  receive  the 
best  thought  of  the  times.    The  magnitude 


6e  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  the  undertaking  of  giving  lands  to  the 
people  can  be  better  understood  when  we 
consider  that  this  nation  has  had  at  its  dis- 
posal about  two  billion  acres  of  land  outside  of 
the  original  thirteen  states,  and  the  sovereign 
state  of  Texas,  where  all  public  lands  belonged 
to  the  state  to  do  with  them  as  it  judged  best. 
And  even  after  the  lavish  free  grants  and  ex- 
tensive sales  during  the  past  decades,  there  still 
remain  half  a  billion  unappropriated  acres  in  the 
arid  regions,  awaiting  the  touch  of  the  magic 
irrigation  rivulet,  and  the  wise  plans  of  dis- 
tribution at  the  hands  of  a  paternal  govern- 
ment, to  furnish  ideal  homes  for  many  millions 
of  people.  No  other  nation  has  ever  made 
such  liberal  gifts  of  land,  not  alone  to  its  native 
sons,  but  also  to  every  alien  who  sought  for 
citizenship. 

It  will  be  of  interest  at  this  point  to  note  the 
methods  by  which  this  nation  distributed  its 
vast  acreage.  After  filling  certain  grants  to 
officers  and  men  of  the  Revolutionary  Army, 
and  to  oflScers  and  men  of  the  other  wars,  our 
nation  adopted  the  plan  of  oflFering  all  unap- 
propriated lands  at  public  sale,  auctioning 
them  off  in  large  tracts,  and  those  lands  that 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         67 

were  not  bid  in  were  offered  afterwards  at 
private  sale. 

After  the  government  had  continued  under 
the  policy  of  selling  lands,  it  took  another 
step,  which  was  to  adopt  the  pre-emption  law. 
This  law  was  of  great  value  to  pioneers, 
because  it  allowed  them  a  brief  period  in 
which  to  raise  the  money  to  pay  for  their 
land.  Under  this  law,  they  could  occupy 
the  land;  and  by  filing  a  declaratory  state- 
ment have  a  year  in  which  to  pay  for  it. 
Afterwards  this  law  was  so  modified  that  they 
could  have  two  and  one-half  years  in  which 
to  make  payment;  and  on  surveyed  lands  they 
had  the  same  purchase  period,  after  the  plans 
of  the  survey  were  returned  to  the  local  land 
office. 

In  addition  to  these  methods  of  disposal,  the 
homestead  law  was  enacted,  which  in  its 
main  provisions  has  been  one  of  the  great 
home  builders  of  the  country.  The  defect  of 
that  law  was  what  we  may  call  the  commuta- 
tion provision.  Originally  a  seller  could 
enter  his  homestead,  and,  after  living  on  it  six 
months,  could  commute  by  paying  the  govern- 
ment the  price;  but,  in  many  cases  instead  of 


68         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  man  who  made  the  original  entry  becoming 
the  permanent  occupant  of  the  land,  the 
property  got  into  the  hands  of  speculators. 
The  law  was  subsequently  modified  so  as  to 
permit  commutation  in  fourteen  months,  and 
at  first  the  land  oflSce  interpreted  that  law  to 
provide  that  the  settlers  could  commute  within 
eight  months  after  the  first  six  months  in 
which  they  were  required  to  live  upon  the 
land.  Afterwards  the  land  office  abandoned 
that  construction;  and  today  they  require 
fourteen  months'  of  actual  residence  before 
the  settlers  can  commute.  But  even  under 
that  provision,  the  records  will  show  that  at 
the  present  time  a  large  number  of  these 
homesteads  are  taken  and  commuted;  and  as 
soon  as  commuted  and  proved  up  and  paid  for 
they  pass  into  the  hands  of  speculators  and 
middlemen,  who  hold  them  simply  for  a  rise 
in  value  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  utilizing 
them  for  agricultural  purposes.  In  addition 
to  these  safeguards  other  laws  have  been 
passed,  which  were  no  doubt  designed  for  a 
beneficent  purpose,  but  in  practice  they  have 
not  worked  out  satisfactorily.  We  had  for 
instance,   years   ago,    what    was   called    the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         69 

Timber  Culture  Law.  The  object  of  that  law 
was  to  promote  the  growth  of  timber  on  the 
treeless  prairies,  but  experience  proved  it  to  be 
almost  a  failure.  In  many  of  the  western 
states,  which  have  these  timber  claims,  a  few 
trees  were  grown,  but  today  on  many  of  those 
old  timber  claims  you  can  scarcely  find  a  tree 
standing.     That  law  has  been  repealed. 

Other  laws  have  followed,  such,  for  instance, 
as  the  law  allowing  men  to  relinquish  lands  in 
forest  and  other  reservations,  and  select  new 
lands  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  Years  ago 
Congress  passed  an  act  relative  to  what  they 
called  the  Mount  Rainier  Reservation.  That 
reservation  is  within  the  limits  of  the  North 
Pacific  grants.  A  great  deal  of  the  land  was  of 
very  inferior  character,  with  little  or  no  timber 
on  it.  Claimants  were  allowed,  under  the 
law,  to  relinquish  that  land  and  select  other 
lands  in  lieu  thereof,  and  under  that  law  they 
selected  some  of  the  best  timber  in  those 
western  states.  Later  on  came  the  timber  and 
stone  act,  which  required  that  the  land  should 
be  sold  at  the  minimum  price  of  $2.50  per  acre. 
Until  recently  the  Land  Department  has  con- 
strued this  to  mean  the  maximum  price,  and 


70         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  timber  land  owners  or  other  intermediaries 
who  purchase  these  lands  have  often  secured 
the  most  valuable  pine  lands  for  that  insignifi- 
cant price.  The  Land  Department  has  now 
adopted  a  new  ruling,  under  which  they  in- 
terpret the  law  to  mean  that  $2.50  is  the 
minimum  price,  and  that  the  government  can 
charge  a  higher  price  in  proportion  to  the  value 
of  the  land.  If  that  ruling  is  enforced,  it  will 
prove  a  great  protection  of  public  property; 
but  in  order  to  enforce  it,  the  government, 
through  its  officials,  will  have  to  investigate 
and  examine  these  lands,  classify  them,  and 
determine  so  far  as  they  can,  the  quantity  of 
timber,  in  order  to  fix  the  price  for  which  they 
should  be  sold.* 

The  time  of  the  great  rush  for  free  home- 
steads were  times  of  great  excitement.  The 
people  flocked  from  the  overcrow^ded  east, 
from  its  rocky  and  worked  out  farms;  and  from 
its  factories  and  workshops.  The  news  of 
homes  to  be  had  for  the  asking  went  across 
the  water,  and  the  land-hungry  people  of  the 
old  world  set  sail  for  the  new  world,  with  its 


*This  description  of  methods  of  land  distribution  is  summarized 
from  the  report  of  the  Governors'  Conference  at  Washington. 


.     THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         71 

new  opportunities.  West  of  the  Mississippi, 
this  great  crowd  of  homeseekers,  alien  and 
American  ahke,  took  up  the  march  toward  the 
frontier  with  its  promise  of  future  wealth  and 
comfort.  In  prairie  schooner  and  emigrant 
train,  they  journeyed  westward.  Many  were 
the  hardships  of  these  early  pioneers;  they 
lived  in  sod  houses  and  shacks,  on  treeless, 
windswept  plains,  far  from  social  life,  and  the 
ordinary  comforts  of  an  older  civilization — 
yet  like  all  pioneers,  they  were  willing  to 
endure  suffering  because  of  the  vision  of  a 
happy  home  for  their  children  when  the  day 
of  hardship  was  passed  and  gone.  None  of 
these  home-seekers  appreciated  more  fully 
this  gift  of  160  acres  of  rich  farm  land  than 
those  who  came  from  the  older  nations: — 
Germans,  Scandinavians,  Russians,  and  a 
multitude  of  other  aliens,  who  are  now  proud 
to  call  themselves  citizens  of  this  land  of 
opportunity.  In  no  part  of  the  country  can 
be  found  a  higher  average  of  wealth  today  than 
in  these  homestead  states,  where  a  paternal 
government  has  given  the  poor  man  his 
quarter  section  and  bade  him  till  the  soil  and 
build  a  home.     As  the  new  farmer  turned  the 


72         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

prairie  sod,  he  found  that  labor  here  brought 
such  sure  returns  in  wheat  and  corn  and  hogs 
that  in  place  of  the  shack,  he  was  soon  able  to 
build  a  brick  or  a  frame  house  with  up-to-date 
comforts.  He  was  able  to  send  his  children  to 
school  and  college,  and  was  made  to  feel  that 
he,  himself,  was  a  factor  in  the  building  up  of  a 
new  country  and  a  new  society.  Vast  in  ex- 
tent as  were  the  fertile  acres  of  the  prairies, 
there  came  a  time  when  nearly  every  free 
section  was  pre-empted,  and  the  railroad  lands 
were  sold  to  eager  purchasers.  Then  the 
prairie  schooner  and  the  emigrant  car  were 
seen  no  more,  but  in  their  place  long,  slow- 
moving  freight  trains  carrying  back  to  the  east 
the  products  of  the  great  west. 

With  most  of  the  desirable  lands  occupied, 
the  stream  of  immigration  was  diverted  from 
the  western  plains  to  the  great  cities.  The 
rapid  development  of  urban  industrial  life 
brought  new  aliens  from  Austria  and  Italy, 
while  the  religious  persecutions  in  Russia  and 
Poland  brought  a  multitude  of  Jews.  Pour- 
ing into  the  tenement  districts  and  ghettos, 
this  new  immigration  laid  the  foundation  for 
many  of  the  complex  city  problems  which  now 
call  for  solution. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         78 

The  next  great  opportunity  in  the  new 
West  lay  in  the  raising  of  cattle  on  the  great 
semi-arid  plains,  which  were  still  a  part  of 
the  public  domain.  These  almost  boundless 
reaches  were  once  the  home  of  the  buffalo,  but 
these  noble  animals  had  been  ruthlessly 
slaughtered,  leaving  a  vast  territory  rich  with 
nutrious  dried  grass,  constituting  a  great 
pasture  of  two  million  acres  free  for  all  comers. 
Here  the  cattle  owner  and  cowboy  held  sway, 
and  here  vast  fortunes  were  made  from  long- 
horned  steers.  Those  were  picturesque  days, 
wild  and  rough,  but  they  could  not  last  for- 
ever, for  the  pressure  was  ever  outward  from 
the  region  of  rains  toward  the  rainless  belt. 
The  barbwire  enclosures  of  the  ranches  inter- 
fered with  the  freedom  of  the  cattle  ranges, 
the  sheep  encroached  upon  the  grazing  lands, 
and  ere  long  the  border  wars  were  on  between 
the  cattle  and  sheepmen  and  the  settlers — 
wars  which  are  only  now  coming  to  an  end. 

Next  came  the  beginning  of  the  great  irri- 
gation era,  with  new  possibilities  in  the  arid 
and  semi-arid  regions,  greater  even  than  those 
found  in  the  middle  west  in  the  days  of  the 
homestead  rush.     That  irrigation  furnishes  a 


74        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

better  opportunity  for  ideal  homemaking  and 
scientific  farming  can  easily  be  shown  by  the 
history  of  this  method  throughout  the  world. 
In  a  score  of  lands  containing  arid  regions, 
irrigation  is  looked  upon  as  the  permanent 
and  certain  source  of  the  greatest  agricultural 
wealth.  Under  the  method  of  artificial  water- 
ing intensive  farming  is  the  rule,  so  that  a 
few  acres  only  are  needed  to  support  a  family, 
this  number  ranging  from  one  acre  in  China 
and  other  parts  of  Asia  to  four  acres  in  the  Po 
Valley  and  elsewhere  in  the  watered  regions 
of  Europe.  According  to  this  ratio,  an  Ameri- 
can homestead  of  160  acres  rightly  divided 
would  furnish  support  for  an  old-world  village. 
The  leading  of  water  from  the  uplands  to  the 
desert  is  not  the  new  dream  original  with  the 
modern  engineer.  More  than  a  thousand 
years  ago  the  peoples  of  the  plains  of  Meso- 
potamia forced  the  waters  of  the  Tigris  to 
transform  sandy  desert  into  a  garden  set  with 
cities.  This  "gentle  art  of  outwitting  the 
summer  sky"  was  well  known  in  Egypt  1400 
years  before  Christ,  for  before  them  con- 
stantly was  nature's  illustration  in  the  annual 
inundation  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile.    In  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         75 

old  days  in  Egypt  when  irrigation  and  agri- 
culture were  at  their  height,  it  is  estimated 
that  the  land  supported  a  population  of 
20,000,000  souls.  The  British  government  is 
now  seeking  to  restore  the  fertility  of  the  land 
by  building  the  great  Assouan  dam,  one  of  the 
great  engineering  marvels  of  the  world.  In 
Syria,  Persia,  India,  China,  Spain,  Sicily, 
Japan,  Peru,  was  solved  long  years  ago  the 
problem  of  living  in  a  rainless  land  watered 
only  by  the  mountain  snows,  and  the  stored-up 
floods  of  distant  regions.  It  is  true,  that 
much  of  this  early  effort  of  reclamation  was 
exceedingly  crude,  being  by  bucket,  wheel,  or 
tilting  trough;  yet  there  is  evidence  that  in 
almost  prehistoric  times  great  reservoirs  and 
canals  were  built  which  have  lasted  for  centu- 
ries. India,  both  past  and  present,  furnishes  a 
splendid  example  of  the  stupendous  watering 
of  parched  lands.  When  present  plans  in 
India  are  carried  out,  it  is  said  that  60,000,000 
acres  will  be  brought  under  the  irrigating 
ditch — almost  enough  to  drive  famine  forever 
from  the  land. 

Because  of  the  vast  amount  of  well  watered 
land   available   in   the   United   States,    this 


76        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

country  was  slow  to  leam  the  lesson  of  the 
older  nations.  Not  until  the  Mormons 
reached  Utah  in  1847  was  the  method  of 
watering  arid  lands  by  irrigation  tried  in 
America.  Brigham  Young,  wiser  than  his 
day,  did  not  turn  the  waters  of  City  Creek  into 
ditches  for  mining  purposes  as  had  hitherto 
been  done,  but  upon  the  sage  brush  desert 
around  the  Salt  Sea,  causing  it  to  blossom  and 
bring  forth  fruit  for  his  multitudinous  fol- 
lowers. On  their  twenty-acre  farms,  the 
Mormons  have  prospered,  and  many  of  them 
abound  in  wealth. 

The  success  of  the  German  Colony  which 
settled  Anaheim  in  California  in  the  eariy 
fifties;  of  the  Greeley  Colony  which  settled  in 
Colorado  in  1870;  of  the  Riverside  Colony  in 
California,  which  opened  its  first  ditch  in  1871, 
changing  seemingly  worthless  land  costing 
$2.50  an  acre  into  orange  land  now  worth 
over  a  thousand  dollars  per  acre — these  and 
many  other  similar  pioneer  undertakings  at 
length  attracted  widespread  attention,  and 
awakened  hope  that  the  arid  lands  might  be 
put  to  better  use  than  that  of  cattle  pasturage. 

By  1890  every  state  of  the  far  west  had  its 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         77 

great  reclamation  projects,  either  under  way 
or  on  paper,  some  of  them  calling  for  the 
expenditure  of  millions  of  dollars.  Great 
numbers  of  farmers  flocked  into  these  newly 
irrigated  regions,  quickly  settling  the  lands 
which  were  the  most  easily  watered;  but 
troubles  soon  arose  because  there  were  no 
uniform  water  laws.  Projects  overlapped. 
Later  undertakings  upstream  took  the  water 
away  from  the  first  users  lower  down.  Con- 
tests over  rights  filled  the  courts.  Lawyers 
grew  rich  while  the  farmers  saw  their  crops  die 
for  lack  of  water.  One  by  one  these  vexed 
questions  have  gradually  been  settled.  Smaller 
water  systems  have  been  combined;  and  in 
some  instances,  water  users  have  formed  co- 
operative associations.  In  these  ways,  west- 
ern irrigation  is  coming  to  its  own. 

While  the  projects  which  required  only  a 
reasonable  amount  of  money  to  finance  were 
under  way,  combined  capital  undertook  the 
building  of  great  storage  dams,  thus  securing 
thousands  of  additional  acres  to  possible 
settlers.  Under  this  miracle  of  irrigation  in 
its  larger  aspects,  the  seemingly  unreclaimable 
desert  has  brought  forth  untold  riches  for 


78         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

promoter  and  farmer  alike.  But  not  all  of 
these  larger  enterprises  were  successful.  Those 
who  developed  the  projects  were  either  ex- 
ploiters, who  overcharged  for  land  and  water 
or  sold  more  land  than  could  be  covered  by 
the  available  supply,  or  else  failed  to  make  a 
suflScient  study  of  the  catchment  basin,  or 
were  furnished  with  insufficient  data  as  to 
rainfall  through  a  series  of  years,  and  a  dry 
season  would  find  them  without  water  in  the 
reservoirs  for  the  farmers  below  who  had  ac- 
cepted their  terms  in  good  faith.  Then  again 
there  were  projects  too  large  even  for  captains 
of  industry  to  risk  their  many  millions  upon 
in  exploitation.  These  failures  have  slowly 
led  to  the  development  of  the  sentiment  that 
the  business  of  handling  water  in  arid  lands  is 
in  its  essence  a  public  rather  than  a  private 
function.  It  has  been  the  outgrowth  of  the 
idea  of  public  ownership  in  every  land ;  private 
initiative  changing  first  of  all  into  exploitation 
of  the  many  by  the  few;  the  development  of 
a  growing  demand  for  co-operation,  culmi- 
nating in  the  acceptance  of  public  ownership  as 
the  best  possible  means  of  handling  these  great 
enterprises  for  the  greater  good  of  all. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        79 

Before  considering  the  methods  by  which 
this  government  has  undertaken  to  control  the 
water  and  land  of  this  Western  Empire,  upon 
the  conservation  and  utilization  of  which 
depends  the  future  development  and  prosper- 
ity of  an  area  equal  to  two-fifths  of  the  whole 
United  States,  attention  must  be  turned  to 
the  other  plans  by  which  the  nation  has 
sought  to  give  away  the  remainder  of  the  great 
American  desert  after  all  available  homesteads 
had  been  taken. 

In  March  3,  1877,  Congress  passed  a  law 
known  as  the  Desert  Land  Law,  whereby  in 
eleven  states  and  two  territories,  it  was  pos- 
sible for  a  man  to  take  up  640  acres  of  desert 
land,  either  surveyed  or  unsurveyed.  In  1891 
this  amount  was  reduced  to  320  acres.  During 
the  first,  second  and  third  years  after  making 
entry,  the  entryman  must  spend  one  dollar 
per  year  for  each  acre  of  land  entered,  for  the 
purposes  of  reclamation  and  improvement. 
If  at  the  end  of  four  years,  he  can  give  final 
proof  that  he  has  expended  $3.00  per  acre,  he 
may  receive  a  patent  for  the  land.  The 
Stone  and  Timber  Law,  passed  in  1878,  was 
another  method  by  which  government  land 
went  over  into  private  ownership. 


80         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

No  doubt  many  have  been  aided  by  all  of 
these  laws  to  secure  home  sites  as  practical  gifts 
from  a  benevolent  government,  but  the  as- 
signment clause  in  these  laws  and  the  com- 
mutation clause  in  the  homestead  acts,  opened 
the  way  for  a  vast  amount  of  fraud  being 
practiced  upon  the  government.  By  the  use 
of  "dummies,"  and  other  illegal  devices, 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  have  been 
secured  by  the  great  mining,  grazing,  and 
timber  corporations,  which  have  grown  rich 
at  the  expense  of  the  people.  These  laws,  it 
is  said,  have  been  notoriously  used  to  enable 
individuals  and  companies  to  acquire  public 
property  for  private  speculation. 

Another  method  of  passing  the  nation's 
land  into  private  control  is  the  Carey  Act  of 
18TT,  which  authorizes  the  President  to  con- 
tract with  any  state  in  which  desert  land  may 
be  situated,  binding  the  United  States  to  issue 
a  patent  to  the  state  free  of  charge,  for  a 
tract  not  to  exceed  1,000,000  acres  of  such 
desert  land  as  the  state  might  cause  to  be 
irrigated,  reclaimed,  and  occupied.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  states  have  always  entered 
into  contract  with  private  parties  to  irrigate 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         81 

this  land,  only  binding  the  companies  to  furnish 
water  to  the  settler,  within  a  certain  time;  to 
charge  not  more  than  a  certain  amount  for 
water  rights,  maintenance,  etc.;  and  to  pro- 
vide for  ultimate  transfer  of  the  irrigation 
works  to  the  water  users. 

Under  the  Carey  Act  the  settler  first  makes  a 
contract  with  the  irrigation  company  for 
water.  He  registers  this  contract  with  the 
State  Land  Board,  pays  50  cents  per  acre  for 
the  land  selected  and  a  fee  of  $1.00,  making  a 
total  of  $81.00  on  a  quarter  section.  On 
presentation  of  proof  that  he  has  occupied  and 
actually  irrigated  one-eighth  of  the  area,  he 
gets  a  patent  for  his  land.  Good  as  was  this 
act,  both  for  the  state  and  the  settler,  it  pro- 
vided no  check  upon  speculation,  that  menace 
to  the  peoples'  rights  in  the  regions  of  sunshine 
and  drought. 

But  why  should  men  seek  so  eagerly  to 
obtain  possession  of  desert  land.^^  Simply 
because  other  lands  have  long  since  been  ap- 
propriated, and  the  knowledge  that  the  watered 
desert  will  produce  the  greatest  crops,  leads 
men  to  rush  by  thousands  to  secure  a  few 
acres  at  the  opening  of  every  Indian  reserva- 


82         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

tion,  and  under  every  new  ditch  and  reservoir 
site  even  before  the  water  is  turned  upon  the 
land.  The  richness  of  this  desert  land  which 
heretofore  had  grown  only  sage  brush,  mes- 
quite,  and  cactus,  is  the  wonder  of  the  world. 
In  the  east  the  constant  rains  wash  out  the 
chemical  energies  of  the  land,  but  in  the  rain- 
less belt,  lands  have  been  constantly  enriched 
with  the  accumulated  potash,  magnesia,  sul- 
phur, lime  and  phosphorus  of  the  ages.  The 
farmer  also  utilizes  only  as  much  of  the  water 
as  is  necessary  for  his  crops,  thus  preserving 
the  natural  strength  of  the  soil.  With  the 
knowledge  of  what  arid  America  holds  in  store 
for  mankind,  a  few  men  of  foresight  have 
labored  through  the  years  unselfishly,  with 
the  hope  that  not  only  would  the  desert  be 
reclaimed  for  the  use  of  man,  but  be  saved  for 
the  actual  homemakers;  and  that  its  great 
wealth  might  be  divided  among  millions  of 
citizens  rather  than  possessed  by  a  few  ex- 
ploiters. 

/Amongst  these  farsighted  pioneers  of  a  new 
epoch.  Major  John  W.  Powell  is  well  worthy 
of  notice.  His  daring  descent  of  the  Colorado 
River  brought  him  into  public  notice,  but  his 


Frederick  Haynes  Newell 
Director  of  the  y.S.  Reclamation  Service 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         83 

greatest  work  was  a  report  on  "The  Lands  of 
the  Arid  Region."  Working  first  under  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  then  under  the  In- 
terior Department,  as  director  of  the  Geologi- 
cal Survey,  he  was  able  by  his  constant  and 
accurate  investigations,  to  lay  the  foundation 
for  the  splendid  work  of  reclamation  now  going 
on. 

Mr.  Frederick  H.  Newell,*  the  present  head 
of  the  Reclamation  Service  was  the  first  to 
have  the  vision  of  the  plan  which  is  now  in 
operation.  As  hydrographer  in  the  Geologi- 
cal Survey,  he  was  able  to  guage  the  streams? 
make  maps  of  the  water  courses  and  reservoir 


*  "There  have  been  laid  out  systems  which  involve  the  ultimate 
reclamation  of  several  million  acres.  Large  works  whose  magni- 
tude is  such  that  they  have  been  passed  over  by  private  and 
corporate  enterprise  have  been  built.  In  all  it  may  be  stated  that 
in  round  numbers  there  were  ready  for  irrigation  at  the  beginning 
of  the  irrigation  season  of  the  present  year  over  5,000  farms,  with 
an  aggregate  acreage  of  700,000  acres.  Storage  of  flood  waters 
had  been  created  and  in  actual  use  to  the  extent  of  a  milUon  acre- 
feet.  Canals  and  ditches  were  ready  for  use  of  an  aggregate 
length  of  more  than  3,000  miles,  a  distance  equal  to  that  across 
the  United  States.  Fifty-eight  tunnels  had  been  built  of  a 
length  of  85,000  feet.  Many  thousands  of  smaller  structures, 
such  as  headgates,  flumes,  bridges,  turnouts,  etc.,  were  completed, 
a  thousand  miles  of  telephones  in  operation  and  yardages  of  earth 
moved  comparable  to  that  handled  in  the  same  time  at  Panama." 


84         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

sites.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of  hydraulic 
engineers  all  over  the  country,  visited  the 
most  promising  sites  time  and  again,  and  so 
was  ready  to  use  his  acquired  knowledge  as 
soon  as  the  Reclamation  Act  had  been  passed 
by  Congress. 

Another  leader  in  this  movement  was  a 
Californian,  Mr.  William  E.  Smythe,  the 
author  of  a  book  on  **Arid  America,"  and  one 
of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  National  Irriga- 
tion Congress.  He  aided  greatly  in  bringing 
the  plan  of  reclamation  to  the  attention  of  all 
the  country. 

But  it  was  not  until  the  Ninth  National 
Irrigation  Congress  assembled  in  Chicago  in 
1900  that  a  concerted  movement  was  made  for 
a  comprehensive  national  system  for  the 
storage  of  waters,  and  the  reclamation  of  the 
arid  lands  in  the  public  domain.  This  Con- 
gress demanded  that  water  monopoly  be 
abolished,  and  insisted  that  water  be  made 
appurtenant  to  the  land  irrigated,  and  that 
beneficial  use  be  the  basis,  the  measure,  and 
the  limit  of  the  right. 

Then  began  a  systematic  lobbying  by  the 
friends  of  this  measure.     The  Newlands  Bill 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  85 

was  introduced  in  Congress,  but  the  Panama 
Canal  debate  was  on  and  this  far-reaching  bill 
could  never  have  been  passed  had  it  not  been 
for  the  active  interest  of  President  Roosevelt. 
In  his  second  message  to  Congress,  he  had 
put  himself  on  record  as  follows : 

"So  far  as  they  are  available  for  agriculture, 
and  to  whatever  extent  they  may  be  reclaimed 
under  the  National  Irrigation  Law,  the  re- 
maining public  lands  should  be  held  rigidly 
for  the  home-builder,  the  settler  who  lives  on 
his  land,  and  for  no  one  else.  In  their  actual 
use,  the  Desert  Land  Law,  the  Timber  and 
Stone  Law,  and  the  commutation  clause  of 
the  Homestead  Law  have  been  so  perverted 
from  the  intention  with  which  they  w^ere 
enacted  as  to  permit  the  acquisition  of  large 
areas  of  the  public  domain  for  other  than  actual 
settlers,  and  the  consequent  prevention  of 
settlement." 

President  Roosevelt  now  became  sponsor 
for  the  bill  and  its  passage  on  June  17,  1902, 
will  be  counted  as  one  of  many  of  his  great 
executive  triumphs.  On  the  28th  of  that  same 
month,  the  Panama  Bill  was  passed.  Great 
as  will  be  the  results  of  the  joining  of  the  two 


86         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

oceans,  in  its  relation  to  the  welfare  of  the 
people,  the  Act  of  June  17  will  be  of  far  greater 
import. 

This  law,  known  as  the  National  Reclama- 
tion Act,  provides: 

"That  all  monevs  received  from  the  sale  and 

*> 

disposal  of  public  lands  in  Arizona,  California, 
Idaho,  Kansas,  Montana,  Nebraska,  Nevada, 
New  Mexico,  North  Dakota,  Oklahoma,  Ore- 
gon, South  Dakota,  Utah,  Washington,  and 
Wyoming,  beginning  -with  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1901,  including  the  surplus 
of  fees  and  commissions  in  excess  of  allow- 
ances to  registers  and  receivers,  and  excepting 
the  five  per  centum  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales 
of  public  lands  in  the  above  states  set  aside  by 
law  for  educational  and  other  purposes,  shall 
be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  reserved,  set  aside 
and  appropriated  as  a  special  fund  in  the 
Treasury  to  be  known  as  the  'Reclamation 
Fund,'  to  be  used  in  the  examination  and 
survey  for,  and  the  construction  and  main- 
tenance of  irrigation  work  for  the  storage, 
diversion  and  development  of  waters  for  the 
reclamation  of  arid  and  semi-arid  lands  in  the 
said  states  and  territories,  and  for  the  payment 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  87 

of  all  other  expenditures  provided  for  in  this 
Act." 

The  law  provides  that  pending  these  exami- 
nations, public  lands  in  districts  under  con- 
sideration may  be  withdrawn  from  public 
entry,  except  under  the  Homestead  Act,  and 
this  without  the  commutation  clause.  If 
investigations  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  the  feasibility  of  con- 
structing the  works  in  question,  they  may  be 
built  from  these  funds  and  the  public  lands 
there-under  disposed  of  under  the  Homestead 
Act,  the  entryman  paying  a  price  for  the  land 
proportional  to  the  cost  of  its  reclamation,  and 
in  ten  annual  installments,  without  interest, 
taxes  or  profit;  and  the  law  provides  further 
that  when  the  majority  of  these  lands  have 
paid  these  charges,  the  entire  distribution 
system  is  to  be  turned  over  to  the  operation  of 
the  local  Irrigation  Association  which  is  to  be 
formed;  the  federal  government  however  re- 
taining possession  and  administration  of  the 
storage  reservoirs  and  head  works  of  the  system. 
No  one  is  allowed  under  this  Act  to  take  up 
more  than  160  acres,  and  the  government 
advises  that  the  amount  of  land  be  limited  to 
40  or  80  acres  on  one  allotment. 


88         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

If  a  man  has  acquired  lands  under  the  reser- 
voir, he  will  only  be  given  water  sufficient  to 
irrigate  160  acres;  all  the  surplus  land  he 
must  sell.  In  this  way  large  land  holdings  are 
broken  up,  and  the  necessity  of  constantly 
living  upon  the  land  for  ten  years  before 
receiving  a  final  patent  to  the  land  puts  all  on 
an  equality  and  shuts  out  the  speculator,  who 
is  the  foe  to  all  schemes  heretofore  devised. 
The  settler  gets  his  land  free,  but  pays  the 
proportionate  cost  of  building  the  works. 
This  fund  becomes  revolving  as  soon  as  the 
cost  of  one  project  is  paid  in  by  the  water 
users,  so  that  the  money  is  returned  to  the 
fund  to  be  used  over  and  over  again  in  the 
construction  of  other  works. 

In  June,  1910,  Congress  passed  a  bill  pro- 
viding for  the  issuing  of  certificates  of  indebted- 
ness to  the  amount  of  $20,000,000  to  provide  a 
fund  for  the  completion  of  the  reclamation 
projects  already  begun;  and  President  Taft 
appointed  an  advisory  board  of  five  officers  of 
the  engineering  corps  of  the  army  as  provided 
in  the  new  law. 

Under  the  different  projects  already  started, 
the  cost   per  acre  is  from  $40.00  to  $60.00 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  89 

according  to  the  cost  of  the  works.  After  the 
water  users'  association  is  formed,  then  the 
cost  of  irrigation  depends  upon  the  cost  of 
maintenance  of  the  ditches  and  the  distri- 
bution of  the  water.* 

No  sooner  had  the  act  been  passed  than  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  called  F.  H.  Newell 
to  the  work  of  organizing  the  Reclamation 
Service.  The  facts  so  patiently  gathered  by 
this  efficient  public  servant  through  his  years 
of  work  in  the  Geological  Survey  were  now 
of  inestimable  value,  and  his  knowledge  of 
the  engineers  available  made  it  possible  for 
him  to  at  once  set  in  motion  the  machinery  of 
reclamation.  Up  to  date  25  projects  have 
been  undertaken,  reclaiming  3,198,000  acres; 
thirteen  more  are  under  consideration,  which 
when  completed  will  add  3,270,000  acres  more; 
an  area  equal  in  extent  to  the  agricultural 
regions  of  many  states.  This  enormous  area 
of  land  hitherto  practically  worthless,  land 
which  was  returning  revenue  neither  to  the 
state  nor  to  the  nation,  yet  possessing  the 
potentiality  of  becoming  one  of  the  richest  and 

*Thi8  act,  well  worth  the  reading,  can  be  found  in  the  Appen- 
dix, as  also  the  list  of  land  offices  where  information  can  be 
secured. 


90         THE  BETTER   COUNTRY 

most  fertile  regions  in  the  world,  is  being  saved 
for  the  people  without  cost  to  the  taxpayers  or 
exploitation  of  the  settlers. 

Slowly  but  surely  under  this  act,  there  is 
being  inaugurated  the  economic  conquest  of 
half  a  continent.  By  the  passage  of  this  act, 
at  a  single  stroke,  the  productive  capacity  of 
the  republic  was  doubled,  and  the  door  of 
opportunity  and  of  hope  was  opened  to 
crowded  millions. 

The  national  government  has  gone  into 
business — "a  business  in  which  all  the  people 
are  stockholders  and  of  which  all  the  people 
are  to  be  beneficiaries."  Formerly  the  gov- 
ernment was  very  willing  to  subsidize  steam- 
ships, guarantee  railway  bonds,  make  vast 
grants  of  land  to  corporations  to  encourage  the 
building  of  trans-continental  roads;  aiding 
private  capital  and  thus  building  up  the  mo- 
nopolies under  whose  oppression  we  are  now 
suffering.  The  method  of  the  Reclamation 
Act  is  the  exact  opposite,  for  it  is  the  nation's 
first  step  in  collectivism.  The  government  is 
not  only  building  dams  and  ditches,  but 
roads  and  railroads  w^herever  necessary.  It 
runs  its  own  electric  light  plants  and  makes  its 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         91 

own  cement.  Strange  to  say,  the  government 
has  gone  into  business  and  is  successful. 

The  social  aspect  of  this  wonderful  move- 
ment will  be  discussed  in  a  later  chapter  on 
"Building  Homes."  For  the  present  it  is 
enough  to  note  that  the  nation  has  at  last 
moved  to  stop  exploitation,  and  to  curb  greed, 
while  offering  a  chance  to  those  who  are 
suffering  under  economic  conditions  which 
are  beyond  their  control.  Fortunate  it  is 
for  the  nation  that  all  this  has  come  about 
when  private  individual  initiative  was  reach- 
ing its  end,  and  the  combinations  of  capital 
were  enriching  themselves  at  the  expense  of 
the  many. 

If  this  nation  can  build  the  Panama  Canal, 
conduct  successfully  the  Panama  railroad  and 
steamship  lines,  bore  a  tunnel  six  miles  long 
through  a  Colorado  mountain,  turn  the  waters 
of  a  river  upon  a  dry  valley  across  a  mountain 
range,   build  the  highest  dam*  in  the  world 

ROOSEVELT  DAM. 
*"In  the  land  of  mystery,  of  lost  races  and  hoary  ruins,  in 
the  warm  and  sunny  valley  of  Salt  River  in  Arizona,  one  of  the 
greatest  engineering  works  in  the  world  is  now  well  under  way. 
Many  miles  above  the  valley,  in  what  was  once  an  almost  inacces- 
sible region,  peopled  only  by  the  murderous  Apache  and  the  old- 
time  outlaw,  the  Salt  River  and  its  tributary,  Tonto  Creek,  emerge 


92         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

in  an  almost  inaccessable  region  known  only 
to  Apache  Indians;  harness  a  score  of  wayward 
streams  and  make  them  work  together  for 
the  good  of  man — if  all  these  things  so  well 
worth  doing  can  be  accomplished  collectively, 
with  hardly  a  suspicion  of  politics  and  graft, 
who  will  fear  or  question  when  still  more  am- 

from  the  canyon  and  flow  across  a  broad,  level  flat.  Here  two 
thousand  men  are  at  work  erecting  the  Roosevelt  Dam,  which  is 
to  be  one  of  the  highest  in  the  world,  exceeded  in  height  by  only 
one  other,  and  that  also  a  structure  of  the  Reclamation  Service. 
The  Roosevelt  Dam  will  be  of  uncoursed  rubble  masonry  (sand- 
stone and  cement )  with  arch  up  stream.  It  will  be  800  feet  long 
on  top,  235  feet  at  river  bed;  and  its  contents  will  be  300,000 
cubic  yards.  It  will  rise  284  feet  above  the  lowest  foundations, 
and  the  height  of  water  against  the  dam  will  be  230  feet.  A 
power  canal  18  miles  long  with  a  drop  of  220  feet  is  now  being 
utilized  to  furnish  4,000  horse  power  in  constructing  the  work. 
When  the  reservoir  is  completed  the  water  will  flow  in  the  river 
channel  for  44  miles,  and  then  be  diverted  by  means  of  canals  to 
the  irrigable  lands. 

"The  reservoir  thus  created  by  the  dam  will  be  one  of  the  largest 
artificial  lakes  in  the  world.  Its  capacity  will  be  ten  times  greater 
than  the  Croton  Reservoir.  It  will  contain  more  water  than  is 
stored  by  the  Assouan  Dam,  on  the  Nile.  One  million  four 
hundred  thousand  acre-feet,  or  enough  water  to  cover  that  many 
acres  a  foot  deep,  will  be  held  in  this  basis  until  needed  by  the 
farmers  in  the  valley  below.  Ten  thousand  horse  power  will  be 
developed  from  the  dam  and  from  drops  in  the  canal,  all  of  which 
vnW  be  utilized  to  pump  the  underground  water  of  the  valley  to 
lands  beyond  the  gravity  systems."  (Description  by  C.  J. 
Blarichard.) 

This  great  reclamation  dam  is  now  completed. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  93 

bitious  government  schemes  are  suggested, 
the  working  out  of  which  will  bring  health, 
wealth  and  happiness  to  all  the  people. 

Our  nation  is  no  longer  a  mere  federation 
of  states ;  it  is  even  now  a  centralized  adminis- 
trative government.  The  old  methods  which 
meant  monopoly  for  the  few,  through  tariff, 
land  grabs,  etc.,  are  passing,  and  the  new 
methods  which  mean  prosperity  for  the  many 
are  coming  to  the  front. 

Not  content  with  turning  the  desert  into  a 
garden  for  the  use  of  the  world's  restless 
millions,  much  has  been  done  in  reclaiming  the 
nation's  vast  swamp  areas,  ofttimes  worse  than 
useless — a  menace  to  the  health  of  the  nation. 
In  February,  1908,  Senator  Frank  P.  Flint 
introduced  the  Swamp  Drainage  Bill,  which 
failed  to  pass,  but  there  are  strong  hopes 
for  its  passage  in  the  near  future. 

"The  object  of  this  Bill  is  the  adoption  and 
application  of  drainage  of  swamp  and  over- 
flowed lands  on  the  same  system  that  now  is 
applied  under  the  Reclamation  Act.  The 
receipts  from  the  sales  of  government  lands  in 
the  states  specified  are  set  aside  as  a  general 
drainage    fund.    These    receipts    are    to    be 


94  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

applied  to  the  draining  of  such  areas  as  after 
examination  and  survey  by  the  Director  of 
the  Geological  Survey  shall  be  approved  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  under  such  rules 
and  regulations  as  the  law  may  prescribe. 
The  lands  reclaimed  are  to  be  sold  to  bona  fide 
settlers  only,  with  no  right  of  commutation,  in 
tracts  of  not  less  than  5  nor  more  than  160 
acres.  The  cost  of  drainage  is  apportioned 
among  the  owners  of  lands  drained  and  the 
benefits  of  such  drainage  is  to  be  assessed 
against  the  property.  Payments  for  such 
improvements  are  payable  in  ten  annual 
installments,  thus  returning  the  money  for 
the  use  in  successive  enterprises,  thereby 
creating  a  revolving  fund. 

The  government  report  states  that  the  area 
of  swamp  lands  affected  by  this  proposed 
legislation  is  approximately  80,000,000  acres 
scattered  throughout  34  states  and  territories, 
comprising  an  area  nearly  as  large  as  the  States 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois. 

If  it  were  possible  to  subdivide  this  enormous 
area  into  40-acre  tracts  it  would  supply 
2,000,000  settlers  with  homes  and  it  would 
put  10,000,000  people  upon  lands  that  are  now 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         95 

practically    worthless.     They    are    not    only 
worthless    from    an  agricultural    standpoint, 
but  are  a  positive  menace  to  the  development 
of  the  country  and  thus  to  the  people.     Situ- 
ated as  most  of  these  swamps  and  overflowed 
lands  are,  they  are  the  breeding  places  of 
mosquitoes,  so  dreary  and  forbidding  that  even 
wild  animals  shun  them.     If  reclaimed  they 
would  become  the  homes  of  a  happy,  prosper- 
ous, and  contented  set  of  home  builders.    The 
necessity  for  the  drainage  of  swamp  and  over- 
flowed lands  has  been  recognized  by  European 
governments  for    many   years.     The  advan- 
tages of  such  reclamation  work  was  demon- 
strated in  England,  where  there  are  over  one 
hundred    acts    of    Parliament   pertaining   to 
drainage.     As  far  back  as   1854   the  Prime 
Minister  of  England  insisted  that  an  advance 
of  public   money   be   made.     In   ten   years, 
$36,000,000  was  loaned  for  drainage  purposes 
at  three  and  one-half  per  cent,  to  be  repaid 
in    twenty -two    annual    installments.      This 
amount  was  supplemented  by  further  loans 
until  most  of  the  swamp  and  overflowed  lands 
were  reclaimed. 

Holland,  France,  Italy,  and  other  European 


96         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

nations  have  all  enacted  liberal  drainage  laws 
which  have  resulted  in  great  prosperity  to  the 
respective  countries,  besides  greatly  improving 
the  hygienic  conditions  and  surroundings. 

It  is  undoubtedly  the  duty  of  the  federal 
government  to  improve  its  own  coimtry  at  the 
least  possible  expense  and  to  aid  citizens  to 
locate  upon  land  where  the  most  desirable 
homes  can  be  made.  This  great  work  when 
fully  carried  out  will  be  one  more  step  toward 
the  consummation  of  the  governmental  ideal 
that  a  government's  chief  object  is  to  secure 
the  greatest  good  of  the  largest  number. 


CHAPTER  V 

Conservation  of  a  Nation's  Resources 

The  reclamation  of  waste  land  is  well  worth 
the  combined  efforts  of  a  great  nation,  but  the 
conservation  of  a  nation's  resources  may  mean 
even  more  when  we  consider  the  good  of  all 
the  people. 

This  has  been  a  prodigal  nation,  wasteful 
of  its  inheritance;  perhaps  not  more  so  than 
other  nations,  yet  tardier  than  some  in  coming 
to  itself,  and  in  deciding  to  save  all  that  re- 
mains, and  to  develop  this  to  its  highest 
efficiency. 

A  third  of  the  land  surface  of  this  country 
was  originally  covered  with  magnificent  forests 
a  million  square  miles  in  extent,  a  domain  so 
vast  that  the  original  pioneers  did  not  dream 
of  its  possible  exhaustion.  But  land  had  to  be 
cleared  that  the  little  farm  might  be  culti- 
vated ;  fuel  and  timber  had  to  be  cut  for  private 
use;  furthermore,  the  forest  was  a  menace, 
for  it  cumbered  the  ground,  and  harbored 


98  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Indians  and  wild  beasts.  Every  day  became 
an  "Arbor  Day,  on  which  a  youth  was  praised, 
not  for  planting,  but  for  felling  a  tree."  The 
woodman's  axe  was  the  symbol  of  progress. 

Following  the  eflFort  to  reclaim  the  timber 
land  for  agriculture  and  homesteads,  came  the 
vast  lumbering  operations  for  domestic  use 
and  foreign  exportation.  Besides  the  de- 
struction through  axe  and  saw,  has  been  the 
destruction  of  fire,  until  the  forests  have 
rapidly  diminished,  and  w^e  have  now  reached 
the  point  where  their  growth  is  but  one-third 
of  the  annual  cut;  and  at  the  present  rate  of 
use,  all  of  the  standing  timber  w^ill  be  cut 
within  twenty  or  thirty  years.  To  what  other 
land  can  we  look  for  help?  The  government 
reports  that  Canada  can  not  supply  our  de- 
ficiency, for  she  will  need  all  her  timber  her- 
self. Siberia  can  not  supply  us,  for  her  timber 
is  too  far  from  w^ater  transportation.  South 
America  can  not  supply  us,  because  much  of 
the  timber  of  that  vast  continent  is  of  a  different 
character  from  that  we  use,  and  ill  adapted  to 
our  need.  We  must  suffer  because  we  have  care- 
lessly wasted  our  forests.  It  is  impossible  to 
repair  the  damage  in  time  to  escape  much 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         99 

suffering,  although  it  is  not  too  late  to  work 
hard  to  reduce  it  as  much  as  we  can. 

One  great  reason  for  the  exhaustion  of  the 
nation's  resources  in  land,  and  water,  and 
trees,  and  mineral,  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
almost  priceless  possessions  have  been  passed 
over  from  national  to  individual  or  corporation 
control.  It  is  true  that  without  this  liberal 
giving  on  the  part  of  the  government,  the 
development  of  the  nation's  resources  would 
never  have  been  so  rapid,  nor  would  this 
nation  have  come  so  surely  to  the  forefront 
in  commercial  and  industrial  activity.  All 
might  have  gone  well  had  the  beneficent  laws, 
created  for  the  people's  good,  been  carried 
out  according  to  their  original  intent;  but 
individuals  and  corporations  began  to  grab 
the  government  land,  and  through  fraud  se- 
cured possession  of  millions  of  acres  which 
should  have  passed  into  the  people's  possession. 

The  great  lumber,  cattle,  sheep,  and  mining 
companies  obtained  vast  stretches  of  land  by 
purchase  from  the  railroads.  To  the  State 
School  lands  and  other  lands,  "lumber  jacks," 
"squatters,"  and  settlers  honestly  obtained  a 
title  and  then  sold  to  the  companies.     "Dum- 


100       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

mies"  were  also  hired  to  take  up  land  and  turn 
it  over  to  their  employers;  single  companies  in 
this  way  obtaining  a  million  and  more  acres, 
thus  coming  to  possess  tremendous  holdings 
which  were  originally  intended  for  the  benefit 
of  the  homesteader,  and  not  for  the  enrichment 
of  a  few  who  were  already  rich  beyond  their 
need.  How  much  greater  would  have  been 
the  wealth  of  this  nation  today  if  instead  of 
these  vast  holdings  of  the  land-kings,  small 
farmers  each  tilling  his  160  acres  had  secured 
the  land  as  intended  by  the  nation's  laws. 

The  total  grants  made  to  railroad  and  other 
corporations  as  an  inducement  to  open  up  new 
country  in  the  far  west,  aggregate  266,000,000 
acres,  an  area  equal  to  France  and  Germany 
combined,  which  support  a  population  greater 
than  that  of  the  United  States. 

The  danger  of  all  this  lies  not  alone  in  the 
building  up  of  a  landed  aristocracy  nor  even 
in  the  keeping  of  the  people  from  the  land,  thus 
compelling  them  to  crowd  into  the  great 
cities,  but  in  the  temptation  to  skin  the  land 
secured  at  such  little  cost  and  use  it  up  at  once, 
thus  exhausting  all  the  resources  which  should 
have  been  conserved  and  developed.     Other 


THE  BETTER  CbUNTRY       101 

countries  have  suffered  in  like  manner,  and 
it  is  time  for  us  to  learn  the  lesson,  and  stop 
the  waste.  Rome  at  one  time  held  vast  areas 
of  public  lands,  but  allowed  them  to  drift 
into  the  hands  of  nobles  and  capitalists  who 
evicted  the  inhabitants  and  held  the  lands  as 
game  preserves,  or  farmed  them  w^th  the 
labor  of  slaves.  Many  reformers  lost  their 
lives  in  seeking  to  improve  agrarian  laws,  and 
to  recover  the  land  for  the  people.  No  such 
dire  results  may  follow  similar  effort  in  this 
country,  yet  many  political  and  oflScial  heads 
may  fall  before  the  result  is  accomplished ;  the 
good  cause  may  be  obstructed,  and  its  tri- 
umph delayed  by  hostile  tactics,  yet  its  final 
victory  is  sure.  In  time  the  people  will  come 
to  their  own,  and  as  President  Roosevelt  has 
said,  "the  nation  will  put  the  interest  of  all 
the  people  in  advance  of  any  private  interests 
whatsoever." 

In  the  effort  to  conserve  the  remnant  of  the 
nation's  resources,  nothing  has  been  more  far 
reaching  than  that  of  the  establishment  of  the 
national  forests.  While  Washington  gave  the 
precedent  by  buying  and  reserving  for  the 
national  government  many  thousands  of  acres 


102       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

on  islands  off  the  coast  of  Georgia  and  Louisi- 
ana that  there  might  ever  be  a  supply  of  oak 
for  the  building  of  ships  for  the  navy,  yet 
because  a  wooden  ship  was  displaced  by  iron- 
clads, these  lands  were  again  opened  for 
settlement;  and  the  original  policy  waited 
many  years  before  it  was  finally  put  in  action 
in  the  creation  of  great  reserves.  Not  until 
President  Cleveland  by  his  proclamation  of 
February  22,  1897,  turned  over  at  a  single 
stroke  21,000,000  acres  of  public  lands  for  the 
creation  of  the  first  forest  reserves,  did  people 
begin  to  think  of  the  necessity  of  holding  these 
lands  for  the  good  of  the  people.  This  act 
raised  a  storm  of  protest,  yet  there  has  been  a 
gradual  change  of  public  sentiment  until  now 
the  forest  reserves  and  the  forest  service  are 
strongly  established. 

In  1891,  President  Harrison  created  the 
Great  Yellowstone  Reserve,  and  each  succeed- 
ing president  has  added  to  their  number,  until 
195,000,000  acres  are  now  included  in  these 
reserved  lands,  with  a  force  of  3,753  persons 
employed  as  caretakers.* 

*NEW  FOREST  ASSISTANTS  AND  THEIR  WORK. 
Forty-seven  young  graduates  of  nine  American  forest  schools 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        103 

At  first  these  reservations  were  called  na- 
tional reserves,  because  the  first  thought  was 
that  of  saving  them  from  private  or  corporate 
exploitation.  The  lines  were  roughly  drawn, 
and  much  good  agricultural  land,  and  needed 
timber  were  locked  up  without  income  to  the 

have  just  received  appointments  as  forest  assistants  in  the  United 
States  Forest  Service.  These  men  have  secured  their  appoint- 
ments as  a  result  of  passing  the  regular  civil  service  examination. 

Forest  assistants  are  men  who  have  completed  their  preUminary 
training  for  the  profession  of  forestry,  as  the  graduates  of  law  or 
medicine  have  completed  theirs,  and  are  ready  to  enter  upon 
practical  work. 

There  is  a  growing  interest  in  the  profession  of  forestry  now 
and  many  young  men  are  asking  how  to  get  into  it,  and  what  it 
promises.  Gifford  Pinchot,  United  States  forester,  in  an  address 
to  the  graduating  class  in  forestry  at  Harvard  University  this 
year,  said: 

"The  government  and  the  country  need  more  men  trained  in  the 
knowledge  of  forestry,  and  it  offers  opportunity  to  make  a  man's 
life  loom  large  and  to  count  for  much  among  the  many  phases  of 
human  endeavor.  To  be  a  good  forester  a  man  should  combine 
something  of  the  naturalist  with  a  good  deal  of  the  business  man. 
To  know  how  to  use  the  forest  he  must  have,  therefore,  the  power 
of  observation,  a  fondness  for  nature,  and  the  ability  to  penetrate 
her  secrets.  He  must  be  resourceful,  able  to  stand  by  himself, 
willing  to  undergo  the  privations  of  rough  life,  and  capable  of 
commanding  the  respect  of  rough  men,  who  quickly  recognize 
virility  and  genuineness  of  character,  but  will  not  tolerate  pretense 
or  the  assumption  of  superiority.  A  forester  should  be  sound  in 
mind  and  body,  and  should  make  the  fullest  college  preparation 
for  the  service.  This  service  means  a  free,  vigorous  life  in  the 
open  air,  and  a  clear,  straight,  fine,  wholesome,  manly  condition 
of  life — conservation." 


104  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

government.  All  this  has  been  changed  and 
now  they  are  known  as  national  forests,  and 
their  use  is  thus  expressed  by  Gifford  Pinchot : 
"The  essence  of  conservation  is  the  appli- 
cation of  common  sense  to  the  common 
problems  for  the  common  good,  implying  the 
development  and  protection  of  resources,  the 
one  as  much  as  the  other." 

Working  on  this  policy,  the  Forest  Service 
during  the  past  year,  received  $1,800,000  from 
grazing,  mining  and  camping  permits,  and 
from  the  sale  of  timber.*  That  this  annual 
income  can  be  greatly  increased  and  that  the 
national  forests  may  be  made  to  produce  an 
annual  net  income  of  many  millions  a  year  is 
seen  from  the  fact  that  they  embrace  one- 
fourth  of  the  timbered  area  of  the  country,  and 
at  $2.00  per  thousand  feet  stumpage,  the 
merchantable  timber  alone  forms  an  asset 
worth  something  like  $800,000,000  while  the 
grazing  charges  should  yield  more  than  a 
million  a  year. 

*The  forage  yield  of  the  forest  for  1909,  which  sufficed  for 
nearly  7,700,000  sheep,  1,500,000  cattle,  90,000  horses  and 
150,000  cows,  was  utilized  by  more  than  27,000  individuals  and 
concerns,  besides  furnishing  free  grazing  for  milch  cows  and 
work  horses  of  settlers,  prospectors  and  travelers. 


Gifford  Pinchot 
Former  Chief  of  the  United  States  Forest  Service 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  105 

The  national  forests  are  for  use  and  not  for 
exploitation.  The  homeseeker  is  allowed  to 
select  suitable  land  if  he  can  find  it,  and  home- 
stead it  for  a  home,  but  for  no  other  purpose. 
He  is  given  rights  as  to  the  cutting  of  fuel  and 
timber  for  his  own  use,  and  the  grazing  of  a 
limited  number  of  his  own  live  stock.  Bona 
fide  prospectors  can  search  the  forests  for 
claims,  stake  out,  locate,  record  and  develop 
them  as  they  can  anywhere  else  on  the  public 
domain.  The  more  people  there  are  thus 
lawfully  living  in  the  forests,  the  more  there 
are  to  fight  the  destructive  fires.  The  timber 
is  for  sale,  the  selection  being  made  under  the 
best  forestry  methods,  but  preference  is  al- 
ways given  to  the  small  user.  Nine-tenths  of 
all  timber  sales  thus  far  have  been  in  amounts 
of  less  than  $500.  The  range  is  for  use 
and  is  not  to  be  destroyed  as  in  the  old  days. 
Cattle  and  sheep  ranges  are  separated  and  the 
number  limited  so  that  no  range  need  be  over- 
stocked. The  government  protects  from  fires 
and  sees  that  the  small  man  always  gets  the 
first  chance.  These  national  forests  serve 
another  purpose  as  great  national  playgrounds 
and  health  resorts,  the  importance  of  which  will 


106       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY; 

be  more  greatly  appreciated  when  the  sur- 
rounding lands  become  more  densely  settled. 

The  forest-rangers  are  constantly  employed 
in  reforesting  the  burned-over  lands,  large 
nurseries  being  maintained  for  that  purpose. 
Over  2,000,000  trees  were  ready  for  planting 
in  1909.  This  reforesting  serves  an  important 
end  in  preserving  the  water  supply  for  the 
valleys  below.  The  killing  of  predatory  wild 
animals  by  the  Forest  Service  hunters  and, 
the  developing  new  sources  of  water  supply, 
probably  saved  the  stockmen  more  than  they 
paid  for  their  grazing  permits.  The  reserva- 
tion of  one-fourth  of  the  timber  lands  and  their 
proper  use  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  work  of 
conservation. 

The  Reclamation  as  well  as  the  Forestry 
Service,  recognizing  the  probable  results  of 
the  wanton  waste  of  the  natural  resources, 
joined  in  an  appeal  for  conservation.  Little 
in  the  way  of  action  could  have  been  accom- 
plished had  not  President  Roosevelt  with  his 
usual  energy,  and  without  consulting  pre- 
cedent, taken  up  the  subject.  On  March  14, 
1907,  he  appointed  the  Inland  Waterways 
Commission,  whose  duty  it  was  to  prepare  and 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        107 

report  on  a  comprehensive  plan  for  improve- 
ment and  control  of  the  river  systems  of  the 
country;  and  the  correlated  subjects  of  forests, 
and  their  conservation;  soil  erosion;  and  the 
control  of  navigable  and  other  waters  for  the 
purpose  of  industry  and  navigation.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  most  remarkable  series 
of  commissions  and  congresses  the  country 
has  ever  known — worldwide  in  their  influences. 

On  the  3rd  of  October,  1907,  the  Inland 
Waterways  Commission  held  a  meeting  on 
board  the  steamboat,  *'Col.  A  Mackenzie" — 
President  Roosevelt  presiding,  and  decided  to 
call  a  conference  on  the  general  subject  of  the 
conservation  of  the  natural  resources  of  the 
nation.  In  conformity  with  this  resolution, 
invitation  was  issued  to  the  governors  of  the 
states  and  territories  to  meet  at  the  White 
House,  May  13-15, 1908.  In  addition  to  the 
governors,  the  President  invited  three  ad- 
visers to  be  selected  by  each  governor,  also 
the  senators  and  representatives  in  the  60th 
Congress,  members  of  the  Inland  Waterways 
Commission,  and  members  of  certain  national 
organizations  dealing  with  natural  resources. 

This  first  conference  was  held  as  per  call. 


108       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

and  resulted  in  the  appointment  by  the 
President  of  a  National  Conservation  Com- 
mission, divided  into  four  divisions,  to  con- 
sider the  resources  of  water,  forest  lands  and 
mines,  the  President  merging  the  Inland  Water- 
ways Commission  into  the  Section  of  Waters 
of  the  new  body.  Chief  Forester  Gifford 
Pinchot  was  made  chairman  of  the  Commis- 
sion. Following  this  W^hite  House  conference 
thirty-seven  state  conservation  commissions 
were  appointed  and  a  large  number  of  private 
commissions  and  committees  to  act  in  har- 
mony with  the  national  organization. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  National  Com- 
mission was  held  in  Chicago,  June  19,  1908, 
and  a  decision  was  there  made  to  take  a  census 
of  our  resources.  To  aid  in  this,  the  President 
directed  the  heads  of  the  departments  to 
render  such  service  to  the  Commission  as  was 
in  their  power.  A  large  number  of  depart- 
ment experts  were  placed  on  the  work,  thus 
greatly  aiding  in  the  census. 

On  December  1,  1908,  the  Commission  met 
in  W^ashington,  formulated  a  report  which  was 
laid  before  the  President  and  governors  at 
the  second  Joint  Conservation  Congress.     As 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       109 

a  result  of  the  addresses  and  discussions  at 
this  meeting,  it  was  made  evident  that  con- 
servation was  a  larger  matter  than  that  which 
was  concerned  in  the  United  States,  and  so  the 
President  was  instructed  to  extend  an  in- 
vitation to  the  governments  of  Canada, 
Mexico,  and  Newfoundland  to  meet  in  a 
joint  Congress.  The  North  American  Con- 
servation Congress  was  held  in  Washington, 
February  18-22,  1909.  As  a  result  of  this 
meeting,  the  President  invited  all  of  the  great 
world  powers  to  meet  in  conference  at  the 
Hague. 

In  strange  contrast  with  these  movements 
that  enlisted  the  hearty  sj^mpathy  and  co- 
operation of  nearly  all  of  the  governors, 
students,  and  scientists  of  the  whole  country 
was  the  attitude  of  Congress  on  the  reception 
of  the  President's  message,  in  refusing  to 
appropriate  money  for  the  conservation  com- 
mission; the  Committee  of  the  House  even 
refusing  to  report  favorably  to  the  House  a 
resolution  providing  for  printing  25,000  copies 
of  the  report  of  the  Commission,  thus  pre- 
venting the  people  from  gaining  information. 

The  unpaid  services  of  this  Commission  is 


110       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

worthy  of  notice,  these  men  giving  as  they  did 
of  their  time  and  their  talents  to  the  accom- 
pHshment  of  their  purpose  for  the  good  of  all 
the  people.  The  calling  together  of  the 
governors  at  this  time  may  form  a  precedent 
resulting  perhaps  in  the  assembling  of  the 
House  of  Governors  for  consultation  on  ques- 
tions affecting  the  interests  of  the  nation. 
In  1776  our  forefathers  joined  in  a  Declaration 
of  Independence;  in  1908  the  governors  joined 
in  a  Declaration  of  Interdependence. 

The  reports  of  these  conferences  should  be 
read  carefully,  and  should  be  circulated  es- 
pecially among  the  rising  generation.  Such 
selections  as  the  following  show  clearly  the 
view  point  taken  concerning  the  relation  of 
the  government  to  the  people.  Secretary 
Garfield  expressed  himself  strongly,  as  follows: 

The  people  as  a  whole  own  these  natural 
resources  and  it  is  for  them  to  determine 
whether  the  resources  shall  be  used  for  the 
benefit  of  all,  or  be  turned  over  to  be  used 
without  regulation  for  the  benefit  of  whoever 
may  happen  first  to  get  a  foothold  in  any 
special  locality. 

The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  governors 
spoke  earnestly  in  behalf  of  the  people. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       111 

"We  agree  that  the  land  should  be  so  used 
that  erosion  and  soil  wash  should  cease,  that 
there  should  be  reclamation  of  arid  and  semi- 
arid  regions  by  means  of  irrigation;  that  the 
waters  should  be  so  conserved  and  used  as  to 
promote  navigation,  to  enable  the  arid  regions 
to  be  reclaimed  by  irrigation,  and  to  develop 
power  in  the  interests  of  the  people;  that  the 
forests,  which  regulate  our  rivers,  support  our 
industries,  and  promote  the  fertility  and 
productiveness  of  the  soil,  should  be  preserved 
and  perpetuated;  that  the  minerals  found  so 
abundantly  beneath  the  surface  should  be  so 
used  as  to  prolong  their  utility ;  that  the  beauty, 
healthfulness,  and  habitability  of  our  country 
should  be  preserved  and  increased;  that  the 
sources  of  national  wealth  exist  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people,  and  that  the  monopoly  thereof 
should  not  be  tolerated,'' 

William  Jennings  Bryan  gave  expression  to 
this  sentiment: 

"It  should  be  our  purpose  not  only  to  pre- 
serve the  nation's  resources  for  future  genera- 
tions by  reducing  waste  to  a  minimum,  but 
also  we  should  see  to  it  that  a  few  of  the  people 
do  not  monopolize  that  which  is  in  equity  the 


in       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

property  of  all  the  people.  The  earth  belongs 
to  each  generation,  and  it  is  criminal  to  fetter 
future  generations  with  perpetual  franchises, 
making  the  multitude  servants  to  a  favored 
faction  of  the  population,  as  it  would  be  to 
impair,  unnecessarily,  the  common  store." 

President  Roosevelt  set  forth  the  rights  of 
the  nation  with  reference  to  private  property, 
as  follows :  "The  opinion  of  the  Maine  Supreme 
Bench  sets  forth  unequivocally  the  principle 
that  the  property  rights  of  the  individual  are 
subordinate  to  the  rights  of  the  community; 
and  especially  that  the  waste  of  wild  timber 
land  derived  originally  from  the  state,  involv- 
ing as  it  would  the  impoverishment  of  the  state 
and  its  people  and  thereby  defeating  one  great 
purpose  of  government,  may  properly  be  pre- 
vented by  state  restrictions." 

The  court  says  that  there  are  two  reasons 
why  the  right  of  the  public  to  control  and  limit 
the  use  of  private  property  is  peculiarly  appli- 
cable to  property  in  land :  "First,  such  property 
is  not  the  result  of  productive  labor,  but  is 
derived  solely  from  the  state  itself,  the  origi- 
nal owner;  second,  the  amount  of  land  being 
incapable  of  increase,  if  the  owners  of  large 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       113 

tracts  can  waste  them  at  will  without  state 
restriction,  the  state  and  its  people  may  be 
helplessly  impoverished  and  one  great  purpose 
of  government  defeated." 

The  report  of  the  Commission  on  the  natural 
resources  of  the  nation  contained  many  in- 
stances of  the  prodigal  waste  by  the  individual 
owners  of  resources,  which  might  have  been 
conserved  had  the  more  recent  court  decisions 
been  rendered  and  enforced  during  the  great 
formative  period  of  our  national  life. 

Touching  the  question  of  the  development 
of  oil  and  natural  gas,  it  is  well  to  notice  the 
decision  of  the  Indiana  Court,  declared  con- 
stitutional by  the  highest  courts.  When  the 
people  of  that  state  awoke  to  the  fact  that 
their  richest  mineral  was  being  wasted,  they 
pressed  the  suit  which  brought  forth  an  opinion 
which  should  be  made  the  basis  of  a  law  in 
every  oil-producing  state.  In  rendering  that 
opinion,  the  judge  said  to  the  people  of  Indiana, 
"You  cannot  take  the  oil  from  the  ground 
where  nature  has  safely  stored  it,  until  you 
have  provided  a  method  of  utilizing  the  ac- 
companying gas  or  volatile  oil  as  well.  It  is 
against  public  policy  to  waste  this  valuable 
fuel  and  it  will  not  be  permitted." 


114       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

A  few  more  decisions  like  that,  and  our 
people  would  begin  to  understand  that  the 
so-called  private  rights  in  property  are  not 
superior  to  the  larger  communal  rights. 

The  people  have  been  slow  in  learning  this 
lesson,  for  they  have  had  perfect  faith  that 
the  possessors  of  so-called  "vested  interests" 
have  the  right  to  do  as  they  will  with  their 
own.  It  is  no  wonder  that  they  sat  by  and 
calmly  watched  the  wanton  waste  of  one  of  the 
nation's  resources.  For  instance,  there  poured 
from  a  Kentucky  well,  for  twenty  years,  with- 
out an  attempt  to  shut  it  in,  a  stream  of  gas 
which  for  fuel  purposes  would  have  been  worth 
$3,000,000.  Everywhere  throughout  Penn- 
sylvania, and  West  Virginia  great  flambeaux 
have  burned  through  many  years  and  millions 
of  cubic  feet  of  gas  have  escaped  unnoticed 
into  the  air,  which  if  condensed  into  oil  would 
be  equivalent  to  a  river  flowing  unchecked  into 
the  sea. 

At  the  conference  this  question  was  raised, 
"Why  should  a  few  oil  producers  in  their 
insane  haste  to  get  rich  quickly,  or  to  add  to 
fortunes  already  swollen  beyond  safety,  de- 
spoil the  entire  country  of  its  choicest  fuel, 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       115 

and  why  should  we,  the  people,  permit  without 
protest  the  existence  of  a  strong  lobby  at  every 
capital,  using  every  means  to  prevent  the 
enactment  of  legislation  which  will  stop  the 
waste,  and  make  a  greater  use  of  the  gifts  of 
nature  for  the  good  of  man?"  Perhaps  a 
people's  lobby  is  the  first  step  in  the  recovery 
of  human  rights. 

The  frightful  waste  of  coal  in  every  land  is 
calling  for  a  larger  measure  of  governmental 
supervision.  Our  nation  has  either  given 
away  or  has  been  robbed  of  most  of  its  coal 
beds.  The  coal  barons  have  controlled  trans- 
portation, and  through  this  means  have  con- 
trolled legislation.  Absolute  regulation  of 
price  and  quantity  was  in  their  hands,  and  the 
people  suffered.  Coal  mining  under  absolute 
private  control  has  always  been  carried  on 
w^ith  frightful  waste  of  life  and  property. 
Through  mistakes  in  engineering,  bad  roofing, 
the  leaving  of  coal  pillars,  the  mining  of  im- 
pure coal,  fully  50  per  cent  of  possible  coal 
product  is  wasted.  If,  under  present  condi- 
tions, but  little  can  be  done  by  law  to  prevent 
this  frightful  waste  of  the  people's  heritage, 
still  there  is  hope  for  saving  the  remnant  of 


116       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

coal  and  mining  lands  which  still  are  under 
government  ownership.* 

New  laws  are  in  the  forming,  embodying 
new  ideas  which  have  recently  been  worked 
out  by  good  experts,  which,  w  hen  pu'c  in  action, 
will  supplement  our  Forestry  and  Reclamation 
Acts.  The  government  still  owns  much  of 
the  western  coal  beds,  the  majority  of  which 
are  composed  of  lignite,  which  has  been  sup- 
posed to  be  of  poorer  fuel  value  than  either 
anthracite  or  bituminous  coal.  The  Govern- 
ment Experimental  Station,  however,  has 
shown  that  when  converted  into  gas,  these 
coals  are  of  greater  value  than  eastern  coals. 
How  shall  these  remaining  fields  be  worked.'^ 
Shall  they  be  sold  to  private  owners  to  aid  in 
the  forming  of  a  great  western  monopoly, 
or  held  and  worked,  or  leased,  by  the  govern- 
ment itself.'^  A  writer  has  recently  pointed 
out  that — 

*By  June,  1910,  President  Taft  had  withdrawn  2,594,113  acres 
of  phosphate  lands  and  4,447,119  of  petroleum. 

The  phosphate  land  acreage  withdrawals  are:  Florida,  27,400; 
Idaho,  1,102,317;  Utah,  107,545;  Wyoming,  1,381,851. 

Petroleum  land  acreage  withdrawals  are:  Arizona,  230,400; 
California,  2,482,750;  Colorado,  87,474;  Louisiana,  314,720;  New 
Mexico,  419,901;  Oregon,  74,849;  Utah,  581,564;  Wyoming 
255.461. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       117 

"By  the  most  happy  coincidence  the  value 
of  the  lignites  and  the  value  of  a  new  method 
of  disposing  of  the  people's  coal  came  to  be 
recognized  at  the  same  time.  While  Hayes 
of  the  Survey  was  determining  the  extent  of 
the  coal  lands  and  Holmes  and  Parker  were 
determining  the  fuel  value  of  lignites,  Leupp, 
the  Indian  Commissioner,  was  experimenting 
in  a  new  government  policy  in  the  Indian 
Territory.  Our  coal  lands  were  going  for  a 
mere  song,  but  the  folly  of  letting  the  Indians 
part  with  their  coal  at  a  great  sacrifice  when 
they  might  be  made  self-supporting  by  its 
proper  sale  was  evident.  Their  coal  was, 
therefore,  leased — with  comparatively  enor- 
mous revenues  to  the  Indian." 

This,  then,  may  be  adopted  as  the  policy 
for  the  nation.  Allowing  the  surface  when 
suited  for  agriculture  to  be  homesteaded,  or 
sold  for  farms,  but  reserving  the  rights  to  the 
ownership  of  all  minerals  beneath  the  surface. 
If  leased,  the  mining  to  be  carried  on  under 
the  best  rules  for  conserving  both  life  and  fuel. 
If  this  method  be  followed  it  will  bring  many 
times  as  much  money  for  the  support  of  the 
state  as  did  the  old  method,  and  with  greater 


118       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

safety  to  life  and  limb.  Why  then  should  we 
think  for  a  moment  of  continuing  the  old 
method  of  creating  monopoly,  with  its  con- 
sequent graft  and  waste  of  life?  Let  every 
acre  of  the  71,000,000  acres  of  western  coal 
lands,  still  owned  by  the  government,  be  re- 
tained for  use,*  or  recovered  when  evidence 
is  shown  that  corporations  have  obtained  them 
through  fraud,  as  is  undoubtedly  the  case  with 
vast  areas  of  the  western  fields.  Fortunately 
the  engineers  connected  with  the  Geological 
Survey  are  of  high  grade,  and  are  zealously 
seeking  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  people, 
and  the  nation  can  safely  trust  them  to  work 
out  these  newer  methods. 

Germany  has  pointed  out  the  way  of  saving 
the  cheap  coals,  avoiding  smoke  in  the  in- 
dustrial districts,  and  breaking  the  power 
of  the  coal  carrying  roads,  by  what  is  known  as 


♦On  July  14th,  1910,  the  secretary  reported  the  following 
withdrawals: 

"Arizona,  161,280  acres;  CJolorado,  6,191,161  acres;  Montana, 
20,208,865  acres;  New  Mexico,  2,894,279  acres;  North  Dakota, 
17,828,182  acres;  Oregon,  192,562  acres;  South  Dakota,  2,870,287 
acres;  Utah,  5,274,247  acres;  Washington,  2,207,967  acres; 
Wyoming,  13,099,718  acres. 

"The  total  of  coal  lands  now  withdrawn  in  the  United  States  is, 
therefore,  71,518,588  acres.    All  the  land,  however,  is  open  to 


o 

ex, 

O 

O 

c 

u 
a 


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a. 

a 


73 

bfl 

C! 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       119 

"pitmouth  distribution,"  and  "electric  can- 
alization," or  in  other  words  turning  the  coal 
into  electricity  at  the  mouth  of  the  mine,  and 
transferring  this  power  to  the  factory  centers. 

In  the  nation's  fight  for  conservation  there 
has  been  no  more  flagrant  betrayal  of  the  will 
of  the  people  than  when  the  party  leaders, 
headed  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  stood  for 
the  few  as  against  the  many  and  brought  about 
the  defeat  of  the  Appalachian  legislation. 
The  welfare  of  the  people  was  clearly  ignored 
because  of  the  selfish  scheming  of  special 
interests  whose  private  gain,  it  was  fancied, 
might  in  some  way  be  injured,  or  because  of  a 
feeling  that  "states'  rights"  was  being  put  in 
jeopardy. 

From  the  Fifty-Sixth  Congress  to  the 
present,  the  plan  to  set  aside  the  Appalachian 
forests  has  been  urged  at  every  session.  The 
arguments  are  conclusive,  inasmuch  as  they 

agricultural  entry,  with  a  limited  surface  patented  under  the 
terms  of  the  order  of  withdrawal  and  in  accordance  with  the 
recent  enactment  providing  for  agricultural  surface  entries  on 
withdrawn  or  classified  coal  lands. 

"Already  10,210,082  acres  of  coal  land,  in  part  included  in  the 
earlier  withdrawals,  have  been  classified  and  appraised  by  the 
Geological  Survey  prior  to  July  1,  1910,  and  restored  to  appro- 
priate entry." 


120       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

show  the  fearful  destruction  of  timber,  the 
consequent  floods  and  soil  erosion,  and  the 
subsequent  drying  up .  of  the  rivers,  entailing  a 
great  loss  to  all  the  states  concerned. 

The  first  appeal  was  for  the  government  to 
purchase  5,000,000  acres  in  the  southern  Appa- 
lachian, but  that  was  soon  merged  in  a  bill 
including  600,000  in  the  White  Mountains. 
Henceforth  this  bill  knew  neither  north  nor 
south,  but  was  pressed  by  clubs  and  asso- 
ciations, governors  of  all  the  interested  states, 
the  Forestry  Bureau,  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, the  President  of  the  United  States, 
together  with  prominent  men  and  women 
throughout  the  land.  The  demand  was  nation 
wide,  yet  the  various  bills  were  defeated  time 
and  again,  not  because  of  argument,  but  be- 
cause of  the  power  of  two  or  three  men  in 
Congress  who  were  able  to  nullify  the  ex- 
pressed will  of  the  people,  and  the  majority  of 
the  members  of  Congress.  But  the  people 
are  aroused  and  the  day  is  nearing  when  they 
will  be  more  directly  represented  in  both 
House  and  Senate,  as  well  as  in  the  State  Legis- 
lature and  Common  Council. 

To  conserve  the  waters  of  the  nation  for 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        121 

irrigation,  power,  and  navigation  is  a  move- 
ment worthy  of  the  most  constructive  states- 
manship ever  apphed  to  any  national  subject. 
To  compass  these  ends,  the  nation's  water- 
ways must  be  improved  and  developed  before 
it  is  too  late,  and  their  possession  has  passed 
forever  into  the  hands  of  corporate  interests. 

The  control  of  the  rivers  for  navigation  has 
always  been  considered  one  of  the  functions 
of  the  national  government,  but  the  right  of 
control  of  the  smaller  streams  as  sources  of 
the  rivers  has  often  been  a  contention  between 
the  state  and  the  nation.  The  correct  rule 
was  recently  laid  down  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  in  the  Rio  Grande  case, 
and  that  is,  that  over  the  portion  of  a  stream 
which  is  above  the  head  of  navigation,  if  it  be 
the  headwaters  of  a  navigable  stream,  on 
account  of  its  effect  upon  the  navigability  of 
that  portion  of  the  stream  lower  down,  ab- 
solute control  should  be  exercised  by  the 
federal  government. 

This  decision  gives  larger  scope  to  the 
nationalization  of  the  conservation  of  natural 
resources,  and  makes  it  possible  to  accomplish 
far  reaching  results.     In  order  to  keep  the 


122       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY'^ 

channels  open  to  navigation,  it  is  necessary  to 
prevent  the  disastrous  floods  which  cause  a 
loss  to  the  United  States  of  $100,000,000 
annually — one  billion  tons  of  soil  being  washed 
down  the  rivers  to  form  bars  obstructive  to 
navigation.  The  Mississippi  River  carries 
through  its  channel  annually  something  like 
400,000,000  tons  of  sediment — more  dirt  than 
will  come  out  of  the  Panama  Canal.  Careful 
data  regarding  the  rivers  and  harbors  of  the 
country  have  been  made,  first  by  the  various 
departments,  and  then  systematized  by  the 
Inland  Waterways  Commission,  and  later  by 
the  Conservation  Commission.  A  definite 
plan  of  action  is  also  being  formed,  and 
powerful  pressure  is  being  brought  to  bear 
on  Congress  to  pass  the  necessary  appropria- 
tion.    The  plan  proposed  is  as  follows: 

(1)  A  deep  waterway  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  to  the  Great  Lakes. 

(2)  A  deep  and  continuous  inner  passage 
along  the  Atlantic  Coast  from  New 
England  to  Florida. 

(3)  The  improvement  of  the  Ohio  for  navi- 
gation, including  the  building  of  reser- 
voirs and  the  protection  of  the  forests 
along  the  headwaters. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         123 

(4)  The  improvement  and  canalization  of 
the  Missouri  and  upper  Mississippi. 

(5)  An  inner  passage  from  Florida  to  the 
Rio  Grande. 

(6)  Improvements  in  the  Columbia  River 
and  Puget  Sound  and  in  the  San  Joa- 
quin and  Sacramento  and  Feather 
Rivers  in  California. 

The  following  bill  was  introduced,  authoriz- 
ing the  issuance  of  bonds  for  the  improvement 
of  waterways : 

To  borrow  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States 
from  time  to  time  as  the  proceeds  may  be 
required  to  defray  expenditures  hereafter  to  be 
authorized  by  Congress  for  waterway  im- 
provements in  the  United  States  and  Terri- 
tories (such  proceeds  when  received  to  be  used 
only  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  such  expendi- 
tures) the  sum  of  $500,000,000,  or  so  much 
thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  and  not  to  exceed 
$50,000,000  in  any  one  fiscal  year. 

This  was  on  the  recommendation  of  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  who  urged  that  funds  should 
be  provided  from  current  revenues  if  it  is 
deemed  wise,  otherwise  from  the  sale  of  bonds. 
The  essential  thing  is  that  the  work  should  go 


124       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

forward  under  the  best  possible  plan  and  with 
the  least  possible  delay.  The  time  for  playing 
with  our  waterways  is  past.  The  country 
demands  results. 

It  seems  possible  that  the  first  work  to  be 
undertaken  will  be  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  canal, 
connecting  Lake  Michigan  with  the  Mississippi 
River,  as  President  Taft  is  committed  to  the 
support  of  this  project. 

The  opening  up  of  the  waterways  will  have  a 
great  influence  upon  transportation  rates, 
coming  as  they  will  in  direct  competition  with 
the  railroads.  It  is  said*  that  half  a  billion 
spent  on  waterways  would  furnish  the  means 
of  carrying  more  commerce  than  five  billions 
spent  on  railroads,  and  that  these  waterways 
could  be  operated  at  one-sixth  the  railroad 
rate.  And  besides,  private  ownership  and 
monoply  in  transportation  would  be  effectu- 
ally shut  out.  It  is  true  that  quick  relief  can- 
not be  obtained  by  waterways  improvements, 
because  of  the  magnitude  of  the  undertakings, 
but  in  pushing  them  forward  we  will  be  pro- 
viding for  the  permanent  advantage  of  our 
children  and  of  generations  yet  unborn. 

♦From  speech  of  Hon.  J.  E.  Ransdell  of  Louiaiana. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       125 

Our  modern  industrial  development  rests 
upon  the  two  important  physical  bases — 
transportation  and  power.  When  the  electric 
and  steam  railways  are  under  government 
control,  or  publicly  owned,  and  operated,  as 
they  are  in  many  other  countries,  and  the 
waterways  have  also  been  fully  developed, 
then  and  not  until  then  will  the  railway  kings, 
who  now  control  all  transportation,  be  forced 
to  relax  their  grip  upon  the  very  life  of  the 
nation. 

But  this  is  pre-eminently  an  age,  marked  by 
the  wonderful  development  of  physical  power. 
The  early  settlements  in  America  were  de- 
termined by  their  accessibility  to  sources  of 
water  power  on  rivers  and  streams,  on  which 
must  be  built  the  sawmill  and  the  gristmill, 
but  steam  has  made  it  possible  to  build  the 
mill  far  away  from  the  water  on  prairie  or 
hilltop,  and  because  of  this  we  have  grown  to 
be  a  great  industrial  nation. 

The  later  application  of  electricity  as  power, 
with  its  long  distance  transmission,  is  slowly 
supplanting  the  mill  wheel  and  the  steam 
engine,  and  as  a  consequence  sources  of  elec- 
tricity have  become  the  most  valuable  assets 


126         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

in  all  the  land.  The  waterways  of  the  land 
can  furnish  this  new  power;  and  that  is  the 
reason  why  we  should  arouse  ourselves  in  time 
to  ward  off  the  impending  monopoly  in  water 
power  sites,  for  the  great  captains  of  industry 
well  know  that  *'the  waters  of  our  streams 
must  furnish  the  Vhite  coaF  of  the  future, 
and  electrically  turn  the  wheels  of  commerce 
in  smokeless  economy."* 

It  is  believed  by  many  engineers  that 
within  ten  years  a  thousand  miles  may  not  be 
the  limit  of  sending  the  power  generated  by 
the  distant  mountain  stream,  power  which 
will  light  our  cities,  run  our  railways  and 
factories,  and  do  much  of  the  hard  work  about 
the  farm  and  home.  Electricity  from  Niagara 
Falls  now  turns  the  wheels  in  Buffalo,  Roches- 

*In  a  recent  open  letter,  Gifford  Pinchot  made  the  following 
statement  concerning  the  permit  now  used  by  the  Forest  Service 
in  granting  all  water  power  concessions  in  the  national  forests. 
Some  such  form  of  permit  should  be  used  in  the  future  to  cover  all 
such  concessions  whether  in  the  national  forests  or  upon  other 
pubhc  lands: 

"I  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  permit  requires 
that  construction  be  begun  and  completed  within  a  reasonable 
time  fixed  in  accordance  with  engineering  conditions,  to  prevent 
the  speculative  holding  of  undeveloped  sites;  that  a  small  annual 
mileage  and  acreage  charge  be  paid  during  construction;  that  a 
reasonable  annual  charge  in  proportion  to  the  electrical  output,  a 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        U7 

ter  and  Syracuse,  and  a  hundred  villages  be- 
side, binding  them  to  the  great  corporations, 
and  making  the  people  more  dependent  for 
life  and  happiness  upon  them  than  upon  any 
other  of  the  great  monopolies  in  transportation 
or  fcod  supplies.  Thirty  millions  of  horse- 
power are  now  available  from  the  waters  of 
the  United  States,  and  by  building  reservoirs 

nominal  amount  at  the  outset  and  gradually  increasing  by  moder- 
ate increments  in  successive  five-year  periods,  be  paid  after  opera- 
tion begins,  with  reasonable  deductions  on  account  of  other  than 
national  forest  land  used  by  the  plant  or  forming  part  of  the 
watershed,  and  in  order  to  encourage  the  building  of  storage 
reservoirs  on  account  of  water  storage  by  the  permittee;  that 
timber  cut  or  destroyed  in  construction  be  paid  for  at  a  reasonable 
stipulated  price;  that  the  plant  be  operated  continuously  up  to  a 
reasonable  stipulated  fraction  of  its  full  capacity,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent artificial  scarcity  and  the  resulting  high  prices  to  consumers; 
and  that  power  be  sold  to  the  United  States,  when  requested,  at 
as  low  a  price  as  to  any  other  consumer. 

"It  is  also  required  that  the  permit  shall  not  be  transferred 
since  the  transfer  of  government  contracts  is  expressly  prohibited 
by  statute;  that  the  permittee  must  use  reasonable  precautions  to 
protect  the  forest  by  fire  fighting,  etc.;  that  the  permit  shall 
terminate  at  the  end  of  fifty  years,  but  may  then  be  renewed  on 
such  conditions  as  the  government  shall  then  fix,  but  that  in 
fixing  them  neither  the  permit  itself  nor  the  franchises,  stock  er 
bonds  of  that  permittee  shall  be  considered,  but  only  the  actual 
value  at  that  time  of  physical  works  constructed  under  the  permit; 
this  in  order  that  future  generations  may  not  be  burdened  to  pay 
dividends  on  inflated  securities. 

"These  permits  are  issued  under  the  authority  of  a  specific 
statute  (Act  February  15, 1901, 31  Stat.  790) ." 


128       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

they  can  be  increased  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions.  This  represents  the  equivalent 
of  all  our  coal. 

Place  this  statement  by  the  side  of  the  fact 
that  a  small  group  of  "interests"  control  one 
third  of  the  present  water  power  production, 
and  have  a  strong  lobby  in  Congress  and  in 
state  legislation,  pushing  "grab  bills,"  hoping 
that  they  may  be  able  to  secure  the  greater 
part  of  the  remaining  power  sites  before  the 
people  awaken,  thus  securing  the  ownership 
of  potential  water  powers  for  a  fraction  of 
their  real  value.  If  this  mighty  robbery  of  a 
nation's  resources  is  consummated,  it  will 
destroy  forever  the  people's  hope  of  cheap  liv- 
ing, and  will  place  in  the  hands  of  monopolies, 
resources  which,  if  controlled  by  the  govern- 
ment, might  be  used  for  public  income  and  for 
the  cost  of  executive  control. 

In  an  appeal  to  President  Taft,  a  magazine 
writer  urges  him  to  curb  the  growing  power  of 
a  monopoly  which  threatens  to  become  a 
greater  trust  than  the  Standard  Oil.  He  de- 
clares it  "a  new  monopoly,  more  terrible  than 
has  ever  threatened  the  country,  paying  noth- 
ing, demanding  all.    Its  members  have  gone  to 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       129 

Congress  and  borne  away  perpetual  franchises 
to  the  greatest  of  our  last  remaining  resources. 
Only  the  determined  stand  of  President 
Roosevelt  and  Forester  Gifford  Pinchot  has 
so  far  come  between  them  and  victory."* 

President  Roosevelt's  veto  of  the  Rainy 
River  Dam  Bill  and  his  veto  of  the  bill  passed 
by  Congress,  June  15,  1909,  which  authorized 
the  applicant  to  construct  a  dam  across  the 
James  River  in  Missouri,  and  divert  a  part  of 
its  waters  through  a  tunnel  for  electric  power, 
are  certainly  in  the  right  direction.  He  gave 
as  his  reason  for  the  vetoes  that  they  gave  the 
grantees  valuable  privileges  which  by  their 
very  nature  are  monopolistic,  and  do  not  con- 
tain the  condition  essential  to  the  promotion  of 
public  interest.  In  regard  to  the  Desplaines 
River  case,  President  Roosevelt  took  a  forward 
stand  when  he  said: 

"The  great  corporations  are  acting  with 
foresight,  singleness  of  purpose  and  vigor  to 
control  the  water  powers  of  the  country. 
They  pay  no  attention  to  state  boundaries 
and  are  not  interested  in  the  constitutional 


♦Water    Power   Expert,  John  L.  Mathews,  in   Hampton's 
Magazine. 


ISO       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

law  affecting  navigable  streams.  It  is  sig- 
nificant that  they  are  opposing  the  control  of 
water  power  on  the  Desplaines  River  by  the 
State  of  Illinois  with  equal  vigor  and  like 
arguments  to  those  with  which  they  oppose 
the  national  government  pursuing  the  policy 
I  advocate.  Their  attitude  is  the  same  with 
reference  to  their  projects  upon  the  mountain 
streams  of  the  West,  where  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  federal  government  as  the  owner  of  the 
public  lands  and  national  forests  is  not  open 
to  question. 

"The  people  of  the  country  are  threatened 
by  a  monopoly  far  more  powerful,  because  in 
far  closer  touch  with  their  domestic  and  in- 
dustrial life,  than  anything  known  to  our  ex- 
perience. A  single  generation  will  see  the 
exhaustion  of  our  natural  resources  of  oil  and 
gas,  and  such  a  rise  in  the  price  of  coal,  as  will 
make  the  price  of  electrically  transmitted 
water  power  a  controlling  factor  in  transporta- 
tion, in  manufacturing  and  in  household 
lighting  and  heating. 

"No  grant  of  this  kind  should  be  made  except 
as  it  provides  for  a  fee  to  secure  title  to  the 
people  and  for  termination  of  the  grantor 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       131 

privilege  at  a  definite  time.  I  will  sign  no 
bill  granting  a  privilege  of  this  character  which 
does  not  contain  the  substance  of  these  con- 
ditions. I  consider  myself  bound,  as  far  as 
exercise  of  my  executive  power  will  allow, 
to  do  for  the  people,  in  prevention  of  monopoly 
of  their  resources,  what  I  believe  they  would 
do  for  themselves,  if  they  were  in  a  position 
to  act."* 

(  The  right  time  to  control  a  monopoly  is 
before  it  is  created.  When  it  is  once  realized 
that  the  public  ownership  or  control  of  the 
great  water  power  sites  is  not  only  essential 
to  the  possession  by  the  people  of  means  for 
cheap  power,  light,  and  heat,  but  also  for 
protection  from  disastrous  floods,  with  their 
consequent  soil  erosion,  and  the  keeping  of 
the  rivers  navigable,  then  it  will  be  seen  that 
now  is  the  time  to  determine  that  there  shall 
be  no  further  private  ownership  of  public 
water  power. 

In  the  old  day  of  unrestricted  individualism, 

*To  date  the  areas  involved  in  the  power  sites  withdrawn  are  as 
follows:  Arizona,  107,550  acres;  California,  47,819;  Colorado, 
201,549;  Idaho,  230,971 ;  Montana,  122,515;  Nevada,  14,501;  New 
Mexico,  14,536;  Oregon,  176,721 ;  Washington,  55,439;  Wyoming, 
103,396;  Utah,  379,912. 


132       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

this  sentiment  would  not  have  been  accepted 
by  any  except  those  thinkers  who  were  far 
ahead  of  their  time,  but  now  we  are  thinking 
continentally,  speaking  in  terms  of  the  nation, 
taking  a  national  view;  and  are  regarding  the 
nation  as  a  social  and  economic  entity,  every 
part  of  which  must  be  developed  in  the 
interest  of  every  other  part.  Conservation 
and  development  have  come  to  be  familiar 
words,  and  the  general  public  is  demanding 
with  no  uncertain  voice  that  this  work  shall 
go  on  with  increasing  momentum. 

But  why  not  give  to  this  principle  a  wider 
application?  If  the  nation  must  initiate, 
carry  through,  and  pay  for  these  great  public 
improvements,  why  should  it  transfer  the 
sale,  or  chief  benefits  of  such  improvements  to 
private  individuals  and  corporations?  If  the 
public  must  do  the  work  and  pay  the  bills, 
should  it  not  share  in  the  fruits?  Other 
nations  have  followed  this  method  with  great 
success — why  should  this  nation  fall  behind? 
In  the  future,  governments  must  at  least  earn 
their  keep  to  justify  their  existence.  The 
opponents  of  the  plan  of  developing  for  the 
public  good  that  which  belongs  rightly  to  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        133 

public,  designate  it  as  "paternalism";  yet  it 
should  rather  be  called  "fraternaUsm,"  for 
the  essential  ideal  in  a  democracy  is  that  of  a 
group  of  brothers  who  have  gone  into  partner- 
ship, working  together  that  even  the  weakest 
may  have  his  full  share  of  the  common  in- 
heritance. To  fulfill  its  destiny,  this  govern- 
ment must  become  in  fact  what  it  is  in  name — 
"A  government  of  the  people,  for  the  people 
and  by  the  people." 


"^mm^ 


CHAPTER  VI 

Agriculture's  Opportunity 

That  this  may  become  a  nation  without 
extremes  of  poverty  or  riches  is  the  dream  of 
many  social  reformers.  A  widespread  distri- 
bution of  wealth  is  without  doubt  desirable 
both  as  a  means  of  abolishing  poverty  with 
its  consequent  misery  and  crime,  and  as  giving 
opportunity  for  more  general  education,  cul- 
ture, and  refinement  of  home  life.  History 
has  shown  that  a  competency  for  every  home- 
builder  is  to  be  desired,  while  swollen  fortunes 
are  a  menace  to  the  individual  and  the  nation. 

No  department  of  our  government  service 
is  more  closely  related  to  the  production  and 
distribution  of  wealth  than  the  Agricultural 
Department;  and  to  Secretary  Wilson,  as  to 
no  other  man  in  the  nation,  can  the  great 
results  achieved  be  attributed.  Through  his 
zealous  labors,  and  well  developed  plans,  the 
farmer  has  been  a  larger  recipient  of  the  govern- 
ment's aid  than  any  other  of  the  nation's 
toilers.     The  gigantic  strides  which  have  been 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       135 

made  toward  the  common  good  in  all  agri- 
cultural regions  afford  us  hope  that  the  time 
is  not  far  distant  when  as  much  thought  and 
effort  will  be  put  forth  to  better  conditions  in 
industrial  districts,  and  in  the  neglected 
corners  where  people  are  left  to  suffer  with  no 
one  to  help  them  in  their  time  of  need. 

The  present  is  far  removed  from  the  old 
laissez  faire  idea  of  government.  In  the  earlier 
days  every  man  claimed  the  liberty  to  go 
without  good  roads;  to  keep  his  children  from 
school;  to  pollute  the  streams  and  poison  his 
neighbors;  to  carry  a  gun;  or  to  sell  liquor  to 
whom  he  pleased.  In  the  interest  of  the  com- 
mon good,  these  rights  are  now  restricted  and 
co-operation  is  taking  the  place  of  the  com- 
petition of  a  war-like  age. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  the  farmer  has  achieved  enor- 
mous successes  in  the  line  of  economic  co- 
operation, even  where  the  people  in  other 
occupations  have  failed.  According  to  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  more 
than  half  of  the  six  million  farmers  in  the 
United  States  are  now  represented  in  this 
co-operative  movement.     In  his  summary  of 


136       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

prominent  objects  of  farmers'  co-operation, 
Secretary  Wilson  places  first  that  of  insurance, 
with  2,000  associations  and  over  2,000,000 
members.  Co-operative  creameries  and  cheese 
factories  have  a  very  large  membership.  Co- 
operation in  selling  has  reached  every  part  of 
the  nation.  Fruit-growers,  nut-and-berry- 
growers,  vegetable-growers,  live  stock  men, 
and  producers  of  all  sorts  of  grain,  poultry, 
eggs  and  milk  have  united  for  self-protection 
and  mutual  interest.  Co-operative  buying  has 
also  become  popular,  there  being  three  hundred 
and  fifty  stores  owned  mostly  by  groups  of  far- 
mers, granges,  and  farmers'  clubs,  all  of  which 
buy  all  sorts  of  goods  on  the  discount  plan.* 

Warehousing  for  storage  of  corn,  cotton,  and 
wheat  is  conducted  with  great  success.  Every- 
where throughout  the  farming  regions  may  be 
found  co-operative  telephone  service,  the  cost 
of  both  equipment  and  service  being  kept  at 
the  lowest  figure  because  of  the  co-operative 

*The  spirit  of  co-operation  has  reached  the  farmers  and  many 
organizations  are  now  national  in  their  scope.  During  November, 
1909,  the  American  Society  of  Equity  held  its  national  convention 
in  Indianapolis;  the  National  Grange,  Patrons  of  Husbandry, 
met  in  Des  Moines,  the  National  Farm  Land  Congress  in  Chicago 
and  The  Fanners'  Union  held  its  national  convention  at  Raleigh, 
N.C. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        137 

feature.  Through  this  team  method  of  work- 
ing, which  does  away  with  the  profit  of  the 
middlemen,  the  farmers  are  coming  out  of 
poverty  into  comfort  and  wealth.  The  farmers 
of  the  mortgage  ridden  Kansas  of  former  days 
have  now  filled  the  banks  to  overflowing,  and 
have  changed  the  sod  houses  into  beautiful 
homes  in  the  midst  of  fruit  orchards  and 
shade  trees. 

During  the  past  year  the  value  of  the  farm 
products  of  this  country  reached  the  vast 
amount  of  $8,760,000,000 — enough  to  build  the 
Panama  Canal,  dredge  our  navigable  rivers, 
irrigate  our  desert  lands,  dig  our  necessary 
canals,  and  do  most  of  the  things  of  this  kind 
worth  doing.*  This  amount  is  four  times 
the  value  of  the  oil  and  precious  metals  pro- 
duced in  this  country.  The  story  of  what 
this  department  is  doing  for  the  farmer  reads 
like  a  chapter  of  New  Zealand's  effort  for  the 

*In  the  report  of  the  Agricultural  Department  for  1909,  Sec- 
retary Wilson  says :  "Eleven  years  of  agriculture,  beginning  with  a 
production  of  $4,417,000,000  and  ending  with  $8,760,000,000! 
A  sum  $70,000,000,000  for  the  period!  It  has  paid  off  mortgages, 
it  has  estabhshed  banks,  it  has  made  better  homes,  it  has  helped 
to  make  the  farmer  a  citizen  of  the  world,  and  it  has  provided  him 
with  means  for  improving  his  soil  and  making  it  more  produc- 
tive." 


138        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

common  good.  The  American  farmer  has 
thousands  of  expert  investigators  working 
for  him,  teaching  him,  and  demonstrating  to 
him  how  he  may  do  things  in  the  right  way. 

The  Department  offers  the  farmer  a  choice 
of  new  crops,  furnishes  him  with  seed  and 
fertiUzer  free  of  charge,  shows  him  how  to 
breed  both  plants  and  animals.  In  short, 
there  is  no  part  of  country  life  that  this  won- 
derful secretary  and  his  trained  assistants 
do  not  touch  in  a  way  which  produces  aston- 
ishing results. 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  evolution  of  the 
new  farmer.  Once  agriculture  was  looked 
upon  as  constituting  the  lowest  stratum  of 
the  industrial  and  social  life  of  the  nation. 
The  tiller  of  the  soil  was  a  serf,  getting  a 
precarious  living,  while  his  overlord  used  the 
greater  part  of  the  land  as  a  game  preserve. 
The  animals  and  birds  were  protected.  To 
kill  a  hare  was  a  capital  offence;  so  was  the 
very  act  of  setting  traps  and  nets  by  a  serf. 
Later  when  freed  from  vassalage  to  the  soil, 
the  agriculturist  with  his  rude  implements  of 
husbandry,  was  unable  to  rise  even  to  the 
rank  of  the  most  poorly  paid  industrial  laborers. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        139 

The  brightest  of  the  farmer  boys  would  not 
remain  upon  the  land  but  sought  the  city 
with  its  greater  opportunities.  But  thanks 
to  a  nation  whose  best  thought  was  given  to 
the  development  of  agriculture,  and  to  the 
enrichment  of  the  life  of  the  farmer,  a  great 
change  has  taken  place,  and  now  the  farmer  is 
reaping  the  results  of  the  small  army  of  govern- 
ment experts  who  have  been  laboring  in  his 
behalf.  Farm  life  for  many  is  still  hard. 
Failure  of  crops,  lack  of  water,  poorness  of 
soil,  may  contribute  to  occasional  financial 
distress.  Lack  of  neighborliness,  and  distance 
from  school  still  send  many  sons  and  daughters 
to  the  busy  centers ;  yet  for  the  greater  number 
of  dwellers  in  the  country,  a  new  day  has 
dawned.  Good  roads,  trolley  lines,  the  tele- 
phone, rural  free  delivery,  and  the  daily 
paper  help  to  urbanize  the  country.  The 
boys  returning  from  the  agricultural  colleges 
now  *'farm  with  brains";  and  the  products  of 
the  soil  are  increasing  in  amount  and  quality. 
The  movement  back  to  the  land  needs  no 
artificial  stimulus.  The  present  methods  of 
farming  produce  on  an  average  about  $500 
for  every  family  in  the  United  States;  and  so 


140        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

rapid  is  the  annual  rate  of  increase,  because 
of  scientific  farming,  that  while  we  are  led  to  be- 
lieve that  within  two  generations  we  may  have 
200,000,000  people  in  these  United  States  in 
place  of  the  present  eighty  millions,  still  we 
shall  be  abundantly  able  to  care  for  all,  and  pro- 
vide them  with  increasing  wealth  and  comfort, 
for  are  not  the  new  leaders  of  agriculture 
making  two  blades  of  grass  grow  where  one 
grew  before,  and  thus  doubling  the  value  of 
farm  products? 

Let  us  follow  somewhat  in  detail  the  work 
of  Secretary  Wilson  and  his  corps  of  experts, 
in  their  efforts  to  raise  the  standard  of  plant 
and  animal  life.  With  the  knowledge  before 
them  of  the  wonderful  results  of  breeding 
among  domestic  animals,  Mr.  Willet  M.  Hays, 
assistant  secretary  of  the  Department,  be- 
lieved that  equal  results  could  be  obtained  in 
the  breeding  of  better  strains  in  plant  life. 
In  this  field,  Mr.  Luther  Burbank  had  already 
been  eminently  successful.  It  is  over  seven- 
teen years  since  Mr.  Hays  began  this  work; 
and  by  using  the  vast  resources  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  securing  the  co-operation  of  the 


James  Wilson 
Secretary  of  Agriculture 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        141 

farmers,  he  has  greatly  increased  the  yield  in 
the  improved  strains  which  he  has  been  able 
to  produce.  During  this  time  breeding  has 
passed  the  haphazard  stage,  and  has  become 
thoroughly  scientific.  By  applying  scientific 
methods,  agricultural  experts  have  created 
annually  millions  of  dollars,  which  have  be- 
come a  substantial  addition  to  the  farmer's 
bank  account.  In  one  state  alone,  at  an 
expense  of  $20,000  annually,  a  half  dozen 
varieties  of  newly  bred  field  crops,  when  mar- 
keted added  $2,000,000  to  the  amount  of 
the  same  crops  as  raised  in  former  years. 
The  improvements  sought  for  are — increase 
in  productivity,  immunity  to  disease,  im- 
provement in  fiber,  taste,  and  food-value;  also 
in  size,  shape,  and  color.  The  methods  used 
are  hybridization  and  seed  selection. 

This  work  necessarily  runs  through  many 
years;  for  from  large  broods  of  the  seeds  of 
single  mother  plants,  individual  plants  which 
show  nearest  to  the  desired  traits  must  be 
selected  and  their  seeds  planted;  a  yearly 
selection  being  made  until  the  desired  change 
is  fixed. 

For  twoscore  years  the  work  of  improving 


142      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  corn  crop  has  been  in  progress,  chiefly 
through  the  selection  of  the  finest  seed,  with 
the  result  that  an  addition  has  been  made  to 
the  size  of  the  ears,  the  number  and  fullness 
of  the  grains,  and  special  varieties  have  been 
adapted  to  the  various  climates  and  soils  of 
the  various  sections  of  the  land.  Corn  breed- 
ing is  not  only  taught  in  college  and  short 
course  farmers'  schools,  but  the  results  are 
exhibited  in  fairs  and  on  "corn-gospel"  trains. 

Because  of  the  value  of  corn-breeding, 
corn-breeders'  associations  exist  in  all  the 
corn  states,  and  seed  corn  is  grown  largely 
as  a  separate  crop.  New  varieties  are  being 
constantly  originated,  older  ones  improved, 
and  new  strains  developed.  The  annual  value 
of  this  great  crop  is  now  far  above  a  billion 
dollars ;  and  it  would  take  only  eight  such  crops 
to  pay  for  duplicating  every  mile  of  steam 
railroads  in  the  United  States,  together  with 
all  the  terminals,  rolling  stock  and  all  other 
properties. 

The  Florida  orange  has  been  hybridized 
with  the  cold-resistant  orange,  thus  greatly 
increasing  its  hardiness.  In  Colorado  a  can- 
taloupe has  been  bred  that  will  resist  the  rust 
fungus.     From  a  lengthy  list  of  improvements 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        14S 

in  plants  and  fruits  reported  by  the  govern- 
ment, a  few  selected  specimens  may  be  quoted 
as  follows : 

"Native  Dakota  plums  and  sand  cherries 
have  been  hybridized  with  other  stone  fruits 
from  Europe  and  Asia  to  combine  the  hardi- 
ness of  the  native  fruits  with  the  size  and 
quality,  to  some  extent  at  least,  of  the  choice 
cultivated  fruits  from  abroad.  In  New  Jersey 
practically  all  of  the  important  vegetables 
have  been  subjected  to  hybridizing  and  breed- 
ing, and  many  new  varieties  with  desirable 
qualities  have  been  produced  and  dissem- 
inated. 

"Good  varieties  of  wheat  have  been  origin- 
ated by  breeding.  The  Minnesota  station 
originated  numerous  varieties,  two  of  which 
have  spread  over  half  a  million  acres,  and 
yield  from  one  to  three  bushels  more  per 
acre  than  the  varieties  formerly  grown.  The 
winter-wheat  belt  has  been  extended  farther 
and  farther  north  by  sowing  adapted  varieties 
until  this  wheat  is  now  grown  in  regions  which 
had  before  been  regarded  as  incapable  of  grow- 
ing it.  Winter  character  has  been  added  to  the 
spring  wheats  of  the  Pacific  Coast  and  new 
hybrids  of  these  wheats  are  now  grown  there." 


144        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

This  same  law  of  selection  has  played  a  large 
part  in  the  successful  introduction  into  Alaska 
of  many  cold-resisting  fruits,  grains,  and  vege- 
tables. Indeed,  by  this  method  of  fitting  the 
plants  to  the  soil  and  climate,  vast  acreages 
have  everywhere  been  added  to  the  agricultural 
areas  of  the  nation. 

If,  by  careful  scientific  breeding,  fifteen  per 
cent  and  more  of  increase  could  be  added  each 
year  to  the  four  billion  dollars  worth  of  farm 
crops,  and  a  similar  amount  to  the  three 
billion  dollars  worth  of  farm  animals,  that 
would  mean  additional  profits  of  one  billion 
dollars  annually,  and  the  farmers  thus  be  made 
rich  at  cost  of  a  very  small  initial  outlay. 

Working  through  the  state  stations  and 
agricultural  colleges,  the  Department  has 
begun  to  create  new  strains  of  farm  animals, 
as,  for  instance,  "carriage  horses  in  Colorado; 
cattle  for  beef  production  under  southern 
conditions  in  Alabama;  a  cross  between  the 
horse  and  the  zebra  in  Maryland;  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  Morgan  breed  of  horses 
in  Vermont;  sheep  especially  suited  to  range 
conditions  in  Wyoming;  a  breed  of  milking 
Shorthorn  cattle  in  Minnesota;  draft  horses 
in  Iowa;  improved  Holstein  cattle  in  North 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        145 

Dakota;  and  a  breed  of  hens  for  high  egg  pro- 
duction in  Maine." 

To  one  imbued  with  the  older  ideas  of  the 
functions  of  government,  it  would  seem  pass- 
ing strange  that  this  nation  should  undertake 
the  business  of  horse-breeding,  but  it  is  a  fact 
that  the  government  is  raising  horses  on  breed- 
ing farms  in  Colorado  and  Vermont,  in  order 
to  check  the  evident  deterioration,  and  estab- 
lish types  that  would  be  most  serviceable  and 
restore  the  former  sturdy  qualities  of  the 
American  horse.  When  all  the  people  work 
together  for  the  good  of  all,  nothing  is  too 
small  or  insignificant,  if  in  doing  it  better 
conditions  of  living  are  brought  about. 

In  addition  to  improving  the  strain  of  farm 
animals,  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  has 
done  much  to  stamp  out  the  diseases  of 
animals,  epidemic  and  otherwise,  thus  pro- 
tecting both  man  and  beast.  (This  might 
well  be  called  an  animal  bureau  of  prophylaxis. ) 
Secretary  Wilson  declares  that  important  dis- 
coveries worth  many  millions  of  dollars  to  the 
farmers  of  the  country  have  been  made  touch- 
ing the  causes  and  cures  of  animal  diseases. 
The  cause  of  hog  cholera,  for  example,  has 


146       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

been  discovered,  a  cholera  serum  prepared, 
and  its  use  has  demonstrated  that  it  is  a 
practical,  trustworthy,  and  cheap  preventive 
of  this  disease.  By  its  use,  millions  of  dollars 
have  been  saved  annually. 

The  great  need  of  freeing  herds  of  cattle 
from  tuberculosis  led  the  government  to 
undertake  the  free  distribution  of  tuberculin 
for  testing  bovine  tuberculosis.  During  last 
year,  213,000  doses  of  tuberculin  and  52,000 
of  mullein  were  sent  out  to  the  health  officers 
for  use  in  testing  dairy  cattle  and  horses. 
All  imported  cattle  are  carefully  inspected. 
A  vaccine  for  the  prevention  of  blackleg  in 
cattle  is  manufactured  and  distributed  free 
to  the  cattle  raisers  of  the  United  States, 
1,154,100  doses  being  sent  out  during  1908. 
Sheep  scab  in  the  ranges  of  the  west  has  been 
nearly  eradicated  by  the  government  in  co- 
operation with  the  states. 

The  injection  of  sterilized  atmospheric  air 
into  the  udder  of  dairy  cows  affected  with  milk 
fever,  invariably  results  in  cure,  and  thus  pre- 
vents the  enormous  loss  which  has  resulted 
from  this  disease.  Since  the  discovery  that 
the  cattle  tick  was  the  cause  of  Texas  fever, 
large  regions  have  been  freed  from  this  insect 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        147 

and  the  cattle  fever  prevented.  Millions  of 
dollars  have  also  been  saved  by  the  energetic 
work  of  the  government  in  stamping  out  the 
foot  and  mouth  disease  in  cattle. 

Most  careful  meat  inspection  has  been 
undertaken  in  all  abattoirs  making  interstate 
shipments;  and  so  extensive  is  the  annual 
inspection  of  animals  that  if  placed  in  single 
file  they  would  form  a  line  reaching  four  times 
around  the  world. 

The  claim  of  the  Department  that  insect 
pests  annually  consume  and  destroy  in  the 
United  States  values  beyond  estimate  is 
readily  accepted  when  it  is  known  that  the 
"vegetable  bugs"  alone  lay  upon  the  farmer 
an  annual  tax  greater  than  that  involved  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  entire  United  States 
government.  By  waging  a  relentless  and 
increasing  war  against  such  pests,  the  Bureau 
of  Entomology  saves  the  farmer  in  some  single 
years  from  $300,000,000  to  $400,000,000. 

The  loss  by  injurious  mammals  annually  is 
in  excess  of  $100,000,000,  while  the  insects  of 
all  kinds  make  a  tax  of  about  one  billion  dollars. 
The  incidental  losses  greatly  increase  this 
amount;  as  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  the 


148       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Hessian  fly,  which  in  some  years  has  cut  the 
wheat  crop  to  pieces,  causing  loss  to  flour 
mills  and  railroads,  throwing  men  out  of  work, 
and  affecting  nearly  every  branch  of  industry. 
To  meet  this  great  loss,  the  government,  re- 
ceiving reports  in  advance  of  the  coming  of 
the  Hessian  fly,  begins  at  once  in  its  laborato- 
ries the  breeding  of  billions  of  parasites,  which 
are  turned  loose  in  the  fields,  to  make  war  on 
the  fly,  giving  it  no  quarter  until  it  is  routed, 
or  completely  destroyed. 

A  recent  magazine  reports  the  following 
conversation  with  the  chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Entomology:  "He's  a  welcome  little  stranger," 
said  Dr.  L.  O.  Howard,  as  he  held  a  tiny  bottle 
before  my  eyes  and  handed  over  a  microscope. 
"That  speck  is  a  distinguished  arrival  from 
Europe.  I  sent  a  man  over  for  him  two  weeks 
ago,  and  though  the  cost  of  getting  him  here 
may  seem  disproportionate  to  his  size  (he  was 
about  as  big  as  the  head  of  a  pin)  he'll  pay  his 
passage  by  saving  the  elm  trees  of  the  country. 
That  is  the  egg  parasite  of  the  elm  leaf  beetle. 
The  magnificent  elms  of  the  country,  the 
splendid  shade  trees  of  New  England  especially, 
have  been  attacked  savagely  of  late  by  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  149 

beetle  which  eats  their  leaves  and  destroys 
them.  This  little  fellow  can  be  depended 
upon  to  give  increasing  battle  to  the  beetles. 
We  shall  propagate  these  parasites  by  millions, 
and  when  the  elm  leaf  bettle  starts  his  feast 
he  will  find  opposed  to  him  a  relentless  army 
of  enemies  bent  on  his  destruction." 

A  similar  story  is  told  of  the  San  Jose  scale, 
a  parasite  which  was  fast  destroying  the  fruit 
trees  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  In  addition  to 
spraying  the  trees,  it  was  desirable  to  find  a 
natural  enemy  to  the  scale.  The  original 
home  of  the  parasite  was  found  to  be  in  China, 
and  dwelling  with  it  was  also  found  its  deadly 
enemy,  a  species  of  lady  bug.  A  federal 
employee  was  at  once  sent  to  China  to  bring 
back  the  mother  lady-bugs.  On  the  trip 
all  died  save  one,  but  this  one  laid  some 
thousands  of  eggs  and  the  brood  when  hatched 
became  the  forerunner  of  the  countless  hosts 
of  lady-bugs  which  are  seen  every  year  swarm- 
ing in  the  trees  of  the  Pacific  coast  during  the 
fruit  season,  rapidly  destroying  the  scale  in 
every  tree. 

It  was  found  impossible  to  raise  the  Smyrna 
fig  in  this  country  until  the  fig  caprifying 


150         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

insect  was  imported,  and  by  its  help  the 
Smyrna  fig  growing  and  packing  industry  has 
been  strongly  established.  The  importation 
of  the  natural  enemies  of  the  sugar  cane  leaf- 
hopper  have  saved  the  growers  from  a  great 
burden  of  loss.  The  destructive  grain  aphis 
has  found  its  enemy  in  a  four  winged  fly  which 
lays  its  eggs  in  the  body  of  the  aphis.  Were 
it  not  for  the  tachinid  flies,  the  army  worm 
would  become  a  menace  as  great  as  the  in- 
vasion of  a  foreign  enemy. 

The  gypsy  moth,  an  accidental  importation 
from  Europe  in  1889,  steadily  advanced 
through  New  England,  until  the  fruit  and 
shade-trees  were  damaged  and  the  loss  had 
reached  the  millions.  The  Bureau  sought  the 
world  over  for  destructive  parasites,  and  when 
found,  propagated  and  liberated  them  in 
such  numbers  that  there  is  now  hope  for  the 
final  extermination  of  both  the  gypsy  and 
browntail  moth. 

The  search  for  the  enemy  of  the  destructive 
cottonball  weevil  is  still  going  on  with  much 
success.  Many  different  kinds  of  parasites 
have  been  introduced.     A  mechanical  appa- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY     151 

ratus  for  the  control  of  the  weevil  has  been 
put  at  the  use  of  the  pubUc;  and  a  * 'rapid  fire" 
cotton  has  been  planted  which  matures,  is 
picked,  and  ginned  before  the  weevil  reaches 
maturity.  In  these  ways  the  calamity  which 
threatened  the  Southern  planters  is  being 
averted. 

The  danger  from  importation  of  insect  pests, 
hidden  in  fruits  and  packing  boxes  is  so  great 
that  the  government  is  always  on  the  watch 
to  guard  against  it;  and  on  the  other  hand  a 
world-wide  search  for  the  enemies  of  existing 
parasites  is  ever  in  progress ;  and  in  this  search 
the  departments  of  all  nations  are  co-operating. 
Not  only  is  the  effort  made  to  keep  out  insect 
pests,  but  all  birds,  beasts,  and  reptiles  which 
may  prove  dangerous  or  may  become  a 
nuisance  are  debarred  from  importation.  The 
proscribed  list  includes  poisonous  snakes,  the 
English  starling,  rabbits,  the  flying  fox,  and 
the  quarrelsome  mongoose  of  India.  Especial 
watch  is  kept  against  the  mongoose,  which 
kills  birds  and  poultry  and  makes  of  itself 
an  unbearable  nuisance. 

The  depredations  in  the  national  forests  by 
insects  is  so  great  that  the  Department  gives 


15«       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

constant  attention  to  the  destruction  of  the 
many  moths,  beetles  and  flies,  native  or  im- 
ported, which  are  in  any  way  hurtful  to  the 
trees. 

The  warfare  against  noxious  mammals  is 
ceaseless  and  expensive,  forming  a  great  tax 
on  agriculturists.  Efforts  to  destroy  these 
animals  by  traps,  poisons,  and  gases  need  to 
be  supplemented  by  inoculating  certain  ones 
with  virus,  which  will  cause  contagious  disease 
to  spread  among  them  and  thus  destroy  whole 
colonies  at  once.  Among  the  most  destruc- 
tive of  the  mammals  are  field  mice,  rabbits, 
gophers  and  rats.  The  circulars  sent  forth 
to  stockmen,  giving  the  methods  of  killing 
wolves  and  coyotes  have  been  the  means  of 
saving  millions  of  dollars.  A  few  of  these 
mammals  are  very  beneficial  and  the  Depart- 
ment advises  the  sparing  of  bats,  skunks,  wea- 
sels, badgers  and  foxes,  that  they  may  aid  in 
destroying  the  more  harmful  animals. 

The  Agricultural  Department  is  also  giving 
great  attention  to  soil  analysis,  for  because 
of  the  wasteful  methods  of  farming,  many 
farms  have  depreciated  in  value,  and  have 
been  abandoned;  and  through  lack  of  knowl- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        153 

edge,  many  farmers  have  wasted  much  of  the 
fertilizer  used  on  worn  out  land.  It  is  another 
instance  where  it  is  well  to  "farm  with  brains." 
In  addition  to  the  soil  survey,  the  government 
co-operates  with  many  states  in  conducting 
demonstration  farms  where  the  farmers  may 
learn  what  can  be  done  on  the  different  kinds 
of  soil;  what  are  the  proper  fertilizers  to  use, 
if  any,  and  what  varieties  and  classes  of  crops 
to  grow  on  their  respective  farms. 

Our  agricultural  lands  are  impoverished  by 
single  cropping,  and  by  failure  to  use  proper 
fertilizers.  It  is  easy  to  remedy  the  first,  but 
the  second  requires  careful  thought  and 
scientific  knowledge,  which  knowledge  the 
government  stands  ready  to  give.  Constant 
cropping  depletes  the  soil  by  extracting  from 
it  the  nitrogen,  potassium  and  phosphorus. 
These  plant  foods  must  be  put  back  into  the 
soil  if  continuous  farming  is  to  be  productive. 

The  nitrogen  is  quite  easily  obtained  for 
the  air  itself  is  a  storehouse  of  it.  Heretofore 
most  of  the  nitrogen  salts  have  come  from 
mines  of  Chile,  but  a  recent  electrical  dis- 
covery makes  it  possible  to  condense  the 
atmospheric  nitrogen  into  a  product  which  can 


154        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

scarcely  be  distinguished  from  the  imported 
article.  But  another  and  a  cheaper  method  is 
at  hand.  All  leguminous  plants,  by  the  aid  of 
bacteria,  draw  from  the  air  large  quantities  of 
nitrogen  which  is  deposited  in  nodules  on  the 
roots.  These  crops  plowed  under  furnish  both 
humus  and  nitrogen  to  the  soil.  The  govern- 
ment sends  out  bacteria  with  which  to  inocu- 
late the  clover,  cow  pea,  or  bean  and  thus 
develop  this  part  of  the  plant  food.  About 
20,000  cultures  were  distributed  during  one 
year. 

Potash  has  heretofore  come  mostly  from 
the  German  mines,  but  it  can  readily  be  ob- 
tained in  inexhaustible  quantities  by  crushing 
the  igneous  rocks  which  carry  a  percentage  of 
potassium. 

With  regard  to  the  third  item,  namely,  that 
of  phosphorus,  it  is  necessary  to  conserve  the 
supply,  for  it  is  limited.  The  earliest  source 
of  phosphorus  was  found  in  the  South  Ameri- 
can Islands.  More  recently  phosphate  rock 
was  discovered  in  the  southern  states,  but 
this  was  largely  monopolized  and  much  of  the 
product  was  shipped  abroad.  Since  then 
large  deposits  have  been  discovered  in  Wyom- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       155 

ing,  Utah  and  Idaho.  At  the  request  of 
President  Roosevelt,  these  phosphorus  bearing 
lands  were  withdrawn  from  entry  and  an  effort 
was  made  to  have  Congress  adopt  the  policy 
of  leasing  them  with  a  proviso  in  each  lease 
that  none  of  the  products  should  be  exported; 
thus  holding  for  all  time  this  last  source  of 
phosphate  for  the  use  of  our  farmers.  This 
owning  and  leasing  is  one  step  towards  the 
larger  policy  of  owning  and  operating. 

In  taking  a  survey  of  this  growing  nation, 
and  foreseeing  the  certainty  of  the  population 
crowding  the  old  centers  and  the  great  cities, 
we  have  rejoiced  in  the  possible  outlet  on  the 
lands  reclaimed  by  irrigation  and  from  the 
drained  swamps,  but  even  these  would  not 
furnish  sufficient  agricultural  area  for  all  the 
people  who  might  wish  to  own  farms.  The 
Agricultural  Department  tells  us  that  millions 
of  people  more  can  build  happy  homes  on  the 
arid  lands,  and  raise  abundant  crops  by  the 
system  of  "dry  farming."  This  method  was 
common  among  the  ancient  Egyptians  and 
the  Aztecs,  but  it  was  one  of  the  lost  arts  until 
the  experts,  local  and  national,  began  a  series 
of  experiments,  which  proved  so  successful. 


156         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

that  now  it  is  claimed  that  200,000,000  acres 
of  available  lands,  once  included  in  the  Great 
American  Desert,  await  development  by  this 
method.  Think  of  the  picture,  you  who  have 
travelled  over  the  great  plains,  of  the  vast 
desert  stretches  of  the  far  west  transformed 
into  delightful  home-sites.  Secretary  Wilson 
maintains  that  w^e  have  no  useless  acres. 
"We  shall  make  them  all  productive,"  he  is 
quoted  as  saying;  and  he  adds,  "We  have 
agricultural  explorers  in  every  far  corner  of 
the  world;  and  they  are  finding  crops  which 
have  become  so  acclimated  to  dry  conditions, 
similar  to  our  own  in  the  West,  that  we  shall 
in  time  have  plants  thriving  upon  all  our  so- 
called  arid  lands.  We  shall  cover  this  arid 
area  with  plants  of  various  sorts  which  will 
yield  hundreds  of  millions  of  tons  of  additional 
forage  and  grain  for  Western  flocks  and  herds. 
Our  farmers  will  grow  these  upon  land  now 
considered  practically  worthless." 

In  order  to  test  the  practical  workings  of 
dry  farming,  so  that  the  people  might  not  be 
enticed  into  the  desert  only  to  find  failure,  the 
government  several  years  ago  established  eleven 
stations  in  the  Great  Plains  region  in  Montana, 


Future  homesites  for  the  people 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        157 

North  and  South  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Kansas, 
Colorado  and  Texas,  where  scientific  methods 
were  carefully  worked  out,  assuring  success  to 
those  who  used  them  intelligently.  As  soon 
as  these  facts  were  given  to  the  pubHc,  settlers 
began  to  pour  in  from  far  and  near,  until  the 
movement  had  grown  to  such  proportions  that 
it  warranted  the  calling  of  the  first  Trans- 
Missouri  Dry  Farming  Congress  in  Denver. 
This  was  attended  by  300  representatives. 
The  second  Congress  convened  in  Salt  Lake 
in  1908,  with  650  delegates,  and  the  third 
in  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  in  February,  1909, 
with  nearly  one  thousand  in  attendance. 
These  prepared  the  way  for  the  still  larger 
congress  held  in  Billings,  Montana,  October, 
1909. 

Much  interest  has  been  aroused  by  these 
successive  congresses.  As  a  result  of  them, 
one  railroad  has  put  on  a  special  train,  in  which 
will  be  carried  samples  of  farm  products,  the 
experts  in  charge  to  give  instructions  to  the 
farmers  at  every  station.  The  membership 
in  the  Central  Congress  has  now  reached  many 
thousands,  and  it  vies  with  the  older  body — 
the  National  Irrigation  Congress — which  in- 


158  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

vited  10,000  people  to  be  present  at  its  last 
meeting  at  Spokane. 

Dry  farming  is  a  success,  if  a  suitable  cultural 
system  is  used,  and  all  of  the  moisture  is 
conserved.  It  involves  the  utilization  of  the 
rains  and  snows  of  the  non-productive  seasons, 
for  the  purpose  of  agriculture  in  the  summer, 
when  there  are  no  rains  at  all.  With  twelve 
to  fifteen  inches  of  rainfall,  properly  conserved, 
a  crop  may  be  produced;  and  there  is  little  of 
the  desert  that  does  not  receive  that  amount. 

The  dry  farming  system  is  based  on  the 
principle  that  the  moisture  falling  in  snow  and 
rain  will  sink  into  the  earth,  if  the  soil  is 
loosened  with  deep  subsoil  plowing  in  the 
summer,  with  furrows  turned  at  right  angles 
to  the  prevailing  winds  of  winter,  in  order 
that  the  snow  may  be  caught.  The  moisture 
during  the  wet  months  sinks  to  the  depth  of 
eight  feet,  then  the  surface  is  sealed  over  with 
harrows,  so  that  the  capillary  ducts,  by  which 
the  moisture  works  its  way  to  the  surface, 
are  broken,  and  the  land  covered  by  a  stirred 
surface  acting  like  a  blanket.  "Plow,  plow, 
plow!"  is  the  cry  of  the  dry  farmer.  This 
prevents  rapid  evaporation  in  the  hot  weather. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        159 

and  makes  it  possible  for  plant  life  to  exist 
upon  the  water  which  it  draws  in  through  the 
roots  from  the  stored  moisture  far  beneath. 
There  must  of  necessity  be  good  soil  as  a 
basis —  "Only  irrigation  can  conquer  sand." 

The  annual  change  of  crops,  and  seed  selec- 
tion, are  vital  to  success  in  the  dry  regions. 
Seeds  are  selected  that  have  drought  resistant 
power,  being  chosen  from  plants  that  have  for 
centuries  grown  in  arid  regions.  This  new 
process  has  had  a  great  effect  on  land  values, 
some  of  the  desert  lands,  from  being  a  drug  in 
the  market  at  50  cents  an  acre,  when  brought 
under  cultivation  command  $25.00  per  acre. 

If  the  plant  breeder  has  been  able  to  make 
two  ears  of  corn  grow  where  one  grew  before; 
and  the  irrigationist  has  caused  two  blades  of 
grass  to  grow,  where  one  grew  before,  the  dry 
farmer  has  caused  profitable  crops  to  grow 
where  nothing  of  value  ever  grew  before. 
Farming  in  the  arid  region  has  been  made 
possible  not  only  because  of  the  local  experi- 
ments, and  the  working  out  of  methods  of 
scientific  culture,  but  also  because  the  govern- 
ment has  kept  in  the  field  a  small  army  of 
explorers,  seeking  for  new  crops  which  will 


160       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

meet  any  condition  of  soil  and  climate  found 
in  America  or  in  the  island  possessions.  The 
policy  of  the  government  has  been  to  **send 
out  and  get  the  best  in  the  world;  then  educate 
the  farmers  in  its  culture  and  the  public  in  its 
use;  and  after  that  grow  it  here  at  home  with 
scientific  zeal."  A  writer  has  recently  sum- 
marized the  efforts  to  bring  fruits  and  vege- 
tables from  other  lands,  before  the  new  agri- 
culture made  demands  for  new  crops,  as 
follows : 

"Before  the  sixties  the  tomato  was  a  curio 
from  Peru — a  'poison  apple' — it  was  called; 
now  it  requires  600,000  acres  to  produce  the 
crop.  In  the  fifties,  the  Franciscan  Fathers 
brought  the  alfalfa  from  Chile,  whence  it 
came  from  Asia  Minor;  now  the  yearly  crop 
covers  2,000,000  acres.  They  also  imported 
the  olive,  which  now  covers  a  thousand 
orchards.  Here  are  some  other  varieties: 
Siberian  crabapple  and  Vladimir  cherry  from 
Russia;  horse-radish  from  Austria;  potato 
from  Columbia  and  Peru;  rhubarb  from  Central 
Asia;  asparagus  from  England  and  cherry  from 
the  south  of  Europe." 

Not  content  with  the  more  or  less  accidental 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       161 

discovery  of  new  crops,  the  Agricultural  De- 
partment has  organized  a  corps  of  explorers 
to  secure  seeds  and  cuttings  and  to  gather  ex- 
haustive data  as  to  the  methods  of  culture  and 
to  secure  information  which  will  help  to  make 
the  transplanted  crop  a  success.  * 'These 
explorers  have  invaded  Indian  jungles;  en- 
dured the  hardships  of  Siberian  steppes; 
sweltered  in  the  burning  heat  of  the  Sahara, 
and  risked  their  lives  in  the  plague  districts 
of  Bombay.  They  have  touched  at  every 
continent  and  penetrated  many  lands,  and  the 
fruits  of  their  daring  endeavors  are  on  a 
thousand  American  farms." 

The  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  has  thus  been 
able  to  add  many  millions  to  the  value  of  farm 
produce  and  at  a  comparatively  small  expense. 
For  instance — it  cost  $2,000  to  introduce 
sorghum,  a  crop  now  worth  $40,000,000  a  year. 
Then  look  at  the  durum  wheat  from  Russia, 
unknown  in  our  markets  till  1900!  It  is  a 
"dry  land"  grain  for  the  semi-arid  western 
plains  that  will  flourish  where  another  wheat 
would  starve.  To  get  it,  test  and  distribute  it, 
cost  us  perhaps  $10,000,  while  the  crop's 
annual  value  is  at  least  $10,000,000!     Similar 


162       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

increase  came  with  the  introduction  of  the 
navel  orange;  Japanese  rice  and  bamboo;  the 
Corsican  citron;  the  Indian  mango;  Bohemian 
horse-radish;  Malay  mangosteen;  Mexican 
sisal;  Spanish  almonds;  French  prunes;  West 
Indian  cassava;  hardy  Finnish  oats  and  tur- 
nips for  Alaska's  short  summers;  Chinese 
mustard  and  Egyptian  cotton. 

Dates  for  the  desert,  and  several  thousand 
rare,  delicious  new  foods,  which  are  now  either 
being  tested  on  the  demonstration  farms  or  are 
growing  on  vast  areas  and  filling  the  produce 
markets  of  every  city  have  been  brought  to 
this  land  by  these  explorers.  If  this  good  work 
goes  on  for  a  decade,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  there 
will  not  be  an  edible  fruit  or  vegetable,  a 
forage  crop,  a  medicinal  plant  or  a  rare  flower 
grown  anywhere  in  the  world  that  will  not  be 
discovered  and  brought  hither  by  the  ex- 
plorers and  started  in  its  new  habitat  some- 
where in  the  vast  reaches  of  this  new  land. 

Of  the  work  of  seed  and  plant  introduction, 
Mr.  Fairchild,  of  the  Department,  says:  "I 
feel  that  there  is  no  government  expenditure 
which  more  directly  affects  the  wealth  pro- 
ducing power  of  the  country  than  this  one. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY      163 

It  means  that  the  American  farmer  is  no 
longer  tied  to  the  few  crops  that  his  fore- 
fathers knew.  It  gives  him  the  material  with 
which  to  experiment.  He  ceases  to  be  a 
plodder  along  old  lines  and  becomes  an  intelli- 
gent investigator.  He  is  emancipated  from 
the  one  crop  idea.  And  the  whole  world  is 
coming  to  his  aid." 

That  the  work  of  distribution  of  seeds  and 
cuttings  is  greatly  appreciated  is  shown  in  the 
request  for  6,400,000  packages  of  vegetable 
seeds  and  800,000  packages  of  flower  seeds, 
freely  sent  out  through  congressmen  and 
through  the  Department  itself.  For  the  en- 
couragement of  willow  culture  for  baskets, 
the  Department  is  sending  willow  cuttings  to 
those  who  will  plant  and  cultivate  them. 

The  government  is  not  satisfied  with  in- 
creasing the  quality  and  value  of  the  farm 
crops  grown  on  land;  it  is  also  giving  great 
attention  to  the  scientific  farming  of  the 
waters.  The  Fisheries  Commission  is  culti- 
vating the  ocean  floor  that  it  may  bring 
forth  greater  crops,  and  that  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  deep  which  were  through  greed 
being  rapidly  depleted  may  be  conserved  for 


iE- 


164       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

future  generations.  Fish  laws  have  been 
passed,  making  a  closed  season  for  many  kinds 
of  fish  (including  shell-fish)  as  is  done  in  the 
case  of  rapidly  disappearing  animals.  They 
have  gone  still  further  and  now,  "every 
specimen  swimming  the  oceans,  rivers  or 
lakes,  which  after  investigation  has  proved  of 
benefit  to  man,  will  be  saved  through  the  cease- 
less activity  of  the  national  Fisheries  Commis- 
sion, which  has  taken  up  the  giant  task  of 
putting  back  under  the  waves  each  year  as 
many  fish  as  thoughtless  man  takes  out,  and 
which  in  addition  aims  to  discover  new  food 
fish  and  make  them  plentiful;  to  bring  to 
American  waters  species  hitherto  unknown  in 
this  country;  to  transplant  the  Atlantic  fish 
to  the  Pacific  and  those  of  the  Pacific  to  the 
Atlantic,  and  to  develop  toothsome  dainties 
for  man's  appetite,  and,  through  a  constant 
increase  in  the  quantities,  to  put  them  within 
monetary  reach  of  all." 

Nor  has  the  government  overlooked  the 
protection  and  propagation  of  wild  birds,  as 
an  aid  to  the  farmer  in  destroying  insects, 
and  as  a  means  of  enriching  the  life  of  the 
country-side  through  the  music  of  the  song 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         165 

birds.  The  Biological  Survey  in  its  report  on 
birds  pleads  for  their  protection,  for  it  claims 
that  when  birds  are  permitted  to  labor  undis- 
turbed they  thoroughly  police  both  earth  and 
air.  The  thrushes,  sparrows,  larks,  and  wrens 
search  the  surface  of  the  earth  for  insects  and 
their  larvae  or  hunt  among  the  leaves  and  peer 
under  logs  and  refuse  for  them.  The  warblers, 
vireos,  creepers,  and  nuthatches  with  their 
microscopic  eyes  scan  every  part  of  the  tree 
or  shrub — trunk,  branches,  and  leaves — and 
few  hidden  creatures  escape  them.  The  wood- 
peckers, not  content  with  carefully  scrutiniz- 
ing the  bark  and  limbs  of  trees,  dig  into  de- 
cayed and  worm-eaten  wood  and  drag  forth 
the  burrowing  larvae,  which  in  their  hidden 
retreats  are  safe  from  other  enemies.  The 
flycatchers,  aided  by  the  warblers,  are  ever  on 
the  alert  to  snap  up  insects  when  flying  among 
trees  and  branches;  while  the  swallows  and 
nighthawks  skim  over  the  pastures  and  patrol 
the  air  high  above  the  tree  tops  for  such  of  the 
enemy  as  have  escaped  pursuit  below.  Thus 
each  family  plays  its  part  in  the  never-ending 
warfare,  and  the  number  of  insects  annually 
consumed  by  the  combined  hosts  is  simply 
incalculable. 


IW       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  Survey  offers  as  another  reason  for 
governmental  protection  the  ruthless  slaughter 
of  birds  by  hunters  and  by  agents  of  commercial 
companies  for  beautiful  feathers,  and  the 
destruction  of  nests  at  the  hands  of  egg 
collectors.  For  many  years  the  Audubon 
Societies  have  worked  with  the  Bureau  of 
Ornithology  in  establishing  harbors  for  wild 
birds.  There  are  now  sixteen  such  reser- 
vations, carefully  patrolled  by  wardens,  and 
the  trade  in  feathers  is  therefore  greatly  re- 
stricted. As  these  islands  are  now  safe  from  de- 
predation the  birds  are  beginning  to  multiply 
in  them. 

We  have  passed  in  review  the  wonderful 
work  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in 
breeding  plants  and  animals,  in  preventing 
disease,  in  creating  better  environment,  in 
improving  the  quality  of  food  for  man  and 
beast,  in  teaching  the  farmer  how  to  grow  his 
crops,  in  adding  millions  of  dollars  to  the 
value  of  farm  products;  the  thought  must 
have  suggested  itself  that  if  a  like  amount  of 
work  and  thought  were  applied  to  humankind, 
even  greater  results  might  be  produced.  For 
is  it  not  possible  to  develop  choice  strains  in 


\ 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        167 

men  as  well  as  in  plants  and  animals?  Can 
we  not  establish  a  department  of  prophylaxis, 
both  physical  and  moral,  for  men  as  well  as 
for  plants  and  animals?  And  "is  not  a  man 
worth  more  than  a  sheep?"  A  bureau  of 
eugenics,  or  of  health  and  development  under 
a  secretary  like  James  Wilson,  serving  through 
several  administrations,  long  enough  to  work 
out  a  definite  plan,  would  certainly  accom- 
plish much  for  human  uplift. 

Social  workers  are  busy  preparing  for  that 
day.  The  government  has  been  many  times 
appealed  to,  to  form  a  bureau  of  health  and 
to  grant  a  children's  charter.  To-day  we 
have  social  agitation,  education,  and  experi- 
mentation, and  within  a  decade  we  may  have 
the  consummation  of  all  these  creative  con- 
structive plans,  the  results  of  which  will  not 
be  expressed  in  millions  of  dollars,  but  in 
terms  of  life,  in  a  marked  increase  in  health, 
happiness  and  home  comfort,  and  in  the  de- 
velopment of  knowledge,  temperance,  morality 
and  spirituality. 

Not  that  the  nation  is  entirely  wanting  in 
altruistic  work  of  this  kind — but  our  plea  is 
that  all  this  work  should  be  co-ordinated,  that 


168  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

it  should  be  made  scientific,  for  the  proper 
breeding  of  humans  is  even  a  greater  science 
than  that  of  breeding  plants  and  animals; 
that  if  fish  and  birds  need  protection,  so  do 
women  and  children.  James  Wilson  has  set 
the  pace  for  every  other  federal  official. 
Some  day  all  will  be  thinking  in  terms  of 
human  uplift  as  does  this  leader  in  his  Depart- 
ment. 


Mil 


CHAPTER  VII 

Building  Homes 

"The  nation  that  will  lead  the  world  will  be 
the  nation  of  homes,"  said  Gifford  Pinchot,  at 
the  Irrigation  Congress  at  Spokane.  "The 
most  valuable  citizen  of  this  or  any  other 
country  is  the  man  who  owns  the  land  from 
which  he  makes  his  living.  No  other  man  has 
such  a  stake  in  the  country.  No  other  man 
lends  such  steadiness  and  stability  to  our 
national  life.  Therefore,  no  other  question 
concerns  us  more  intimately  than  the  question 
of  homes.  Permanent  homes  for  ourselves, 
our  children  and  our  nation — that  is  the  central 
problem.  The  policy  of  national  irrigation  is 
of  value  to  the  United  States  in  very  many 
ways,  but  the  greatest  of  all  is  this,  that  na- 
tional irrigation  multiplies  the  men  who  own 
the  land  from  which  they  make  their  living.'* 

How  the  people  live  is  of  vital  interest  to 
the  nation.  The  question  of  urban  congestion 
with  its  consequent  crime  and  misery  is  of 
more  than  local  interest,  and  its  solution  comes 


170         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

within  the  scope  of  the  federal  government. 
Let  us  study  the  growth  of  cities,  and  notice 
the  forces  already  at  work  in  breaking  up  con- 
gestion, and  scattering  the  people. 

In  the  social  life  of  the  world  every  succes- 
sive generation  has  its  new  problems,  and  its 
new  methods  for  solving  old  ones.  In  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century  we  have  stood 
amazed  and  almost  helpless  in  the  presence  of 
a  mighty  rush  of  rural  people  toward  the  great 
cities,  until  the  urban  populations  have  become 
so  congested  in  certain  districts  as  to  be  a 
menace  to  health  and  morals. 

The  city  has  drawn  into  itself  the  farmer 
boy  and  the  foreigner,  because  it  has  offered 
work  for  all,  with  regularity  of  employment. 
There  could  be  found  companionship,  possi- 
bilities for  education,  together  with  the  excite- 
ment of  the  street,  and  the  amusement  hall. 
For  twenty-five  years  the  millions  from  the  old 
world  poured  into  the  prairie  country  of  the 
west  until  all  available  land  was  pre-empted 
under  the  liberal  homestead  laws.  Then 
that  tide  turned  back  upon  the  cities  and  a 
million  aliens  a  year  tarried  within  the  gates 
and  helped  to  swell  the  congestion. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY      171 

The  increased  demand  for  labor  in  industrial 
centers,  and  the  lack  of  opportunity  to  get  on 
the  land,  brought  about  the  problem  of  con- 
gestion, the  solution  of  which  has  waited  for  a 
new  day  with  its  new  possibilities.  Granted 
congested  factory  life,  under  the  old  conditions 
there  must  be  congested  family  life.  Because 
there  are  docks  and  warehouses,  depots  and 
transportation  facilities  in  certain  sections 
only,  in  these  sections  blocks  of  factories  must 
be  built.  The  railroad  favors  this  system  of 
massing  things  together  because  of  ease  in 
handling  freight.  The  factory  owner  must 
have  a  switch  near  by  for  the  more  economical 
method  of  shipping  the  product  of  his  mill. 

Large  factories  in  a  given  section  call  for 
large  tenements  for  the  housing  of  the  laborers. 
These  are  speedily  built  without  reference  to 
sanitary  laws.  This  was  markedly  the  case 
in  the  earlier  days  when  the  health  boards 
were  less  eflBcient  and  had  far  less  power  than 
at  present.  Old  mansions,  deserted  by  their 
former  owners,  were  filled  to  overflowing  by 
numerous  families.  Without  the  necessary 
sanitary  appliances,  these  places  soon  became 
rookeries,    "where   children   were   not    born. 


172       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

but  cursed  into  life."  Building  lots  in  these 
congested  areas  were  nearly  covered  with 
front  and  rear  tenements,  many  stories  high, 
and  these  were  filled  with  dark  rooms,  dismal 
and  unhealthy. 

That  congestion  means  disease  goes  without 
saying.  Sewer  gas,  and  lack  of  sunlight  and 
fresh  air  breed  germs  of  disease  which  would 
help  to  fill  the  cemeteries,  were  it  not  that 
poverty  compels  the  use  of  the  potter's  field. 
It  is  reported  that  one  in  every  ten  persons 
who  die  in  New  York  is  buried  at  public 
expense  in  the  potter's  field — and  this  repre- 
sents the  limit  of  misery. 

Tenements  are  training  schools  in  bad 
morals.  They  have  no  redeeming  qualities, 
and  make  for  unrighteousness  among  their 
unhappy  dwellers.  Their  pernicious  influence 
lends  color  to  the  idea  that  environment  means 
more  than  heredity;  for  certainly  a  well-born 
child  raised  in  a  tenement  house  with  the 
streets  for  a  playground  and  with  oaths  and 
drunken  songs  for  a  lullaby,  starts  life  with  a 
moral  handicap. 

Many  of  those  whom  society  has  branded 
as  criminals,  and  has  thrust  into   jails,   are 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        173 

products  of  bad  conditions  rather  than  of 
hearts  naturally  bad;  and  if  congestion  pro- 
duces crime,  the  scattering  of  the  population 
is  an  effort  in  favor  of  good  morals. 

Congestion  is  as  much  the  cause  as  the 
result  of  poverty.  "Those  who  are  in  poverty 
may  be  able  to  get  a  bare  sustenance,  but  they 
are  not  able  to  obtain  those  necessities  which 
will  permit  them  to  maintain  a  state  of  physi- 
cal efficiency." 

Tenement  house  life  destroys  the  incentive 
for  the  improvement  of  living  conditions. 
An  ever-present  saloon  incites  to  lawlessness, 
and  the  inevitable  debauchery  lessens  the 
power  to  resist  disease  and  reduces  physical 
efficiency  as  an  asset.  The  dweller  in  a  slum 
becomes  too  often  sodden  and  hopeless,  and 
therefore  less  of  a  man. 

The  indictment  against  the  tenement  with 
its  consequent  slum  reads  in  this  wise :  It  pro- 
duces unnecessary  disease,  forms  a  training 
school  for  bad  morals,  fosters  crime,  promotes 
poverty,  creates  a  stronghold  for  bad  govern- 
ment, helps  to  people  the  potter's  field,  and  as 
a  whole  stands  as  a  menace  to  society.  More 
jails  and  hospitals  and  nurseries  are  a  growing 


174       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

necessity  to  handle  the  product  of  the  con- 
gested districts.  If  the  tenement  produces 
evil  and  evil  only,  is  it  not  folly  to  deal  with 
results  when  it  is  possible  to  be  rid  of  the 
cause?  It  is  a  glorious  charity  to  carry  the 
little  suflferers  with  surgical  tuberculosis  to  the 
sea  shore  for  a  breath  of  fresh  air,  but  this  is 
largely  a  tenement  house  disease  and  need 
not  exist  if  the  child  is  raised  in  normal 
surroundings. 

Against  much  of  the  crime,  disease  and 
death  originating  in  the  tenement  may  be 
written  the  word  "preventable."  Social 
workers  everywhere  are  awakening  to  a  sense 
of  responsibility,  and  a  campaign  has  been 
waged  against  the  slum.  It  has  been  a 
ten-years'  war  against  the  worst  of  existing 
conditions.  Social  workers  have  of  late  real- 
ized that  something  more  is  necessary,  viz.,  a 
campaign  of  education  as  to  the  method  of 
scattering  the  people  and  ruralizing  the  city. 

An  appeal  to  commercialism  must  be  made. 
"It  pays  to  ruralize  the  city,"  is  a  statement 
which,  when  proven  true,  wins  the  support 
of  capital,  even  though  there  may  be  no  in- 
terest in  the  moral  and  social  results.     The 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        175 

tenement  and  the  slum  must  go  from  our 
American  cities,  notwithstanding  the  oppo- 
sition of  builders  of  the  tenement  who  are 
coining  money  from  the  misery  of  the  poor. 
No  city  can  long  exist  half  bad  and  half  good. 
If  left  to  itself,  the  slum  will  sooner  or  later 
control  the  city  hall.  There  is  but  one  safe 
way:  exterminate  the  slums  and  make  the 
city  good. 

But  vested  rights,  corrupt  politics,  and  bad 
business  are  strongly  entrenched  in  these 
congested  districts.  Before  victory  is  assured, 
it  may  call  for  more  than  a  ten-years'  war; 
yet  the  forces  of  righteousness  are  sure  to  win 
at  last,  because  of  the  mighty  civic  awakening 
that  has  been  coming  about  in  the  last  few 
years. 

Many  wealthy  individualists  are  now  social 
reformers;  university  men  have  chosen  social 
service  as  a  life  work;  women's  clubs,  city 
clubs,  and  civic  associations,  which  are  multi- 
plying on  every  side,  have  taken  up  the  work 
of  civic  reform,  while  militant  civic  bodies  are 
embodying  in  their  membership  the  leading 
business  and  professional  men  in  every  com- 
munity.    These  men  are  optimists  with  the 


176        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

vision  of  a  better  city.  Wherever  evil  is  to 
be  found  entrenched,  there  are  they  to  be 
found  on  the  firing  line. 

In  all  our  newer  cities  the  battle  with  the 
slum  may  be  briefer,  for  the  population  of  the 
congested  districts  is  small  compared  with 
that  of  the  entire  city.  Large  fortunes  have 
not  yet  been  expended  in  building  brothels 
and  tenements,  and  the  political  machine  is 
not  so  strong  as  in  the  older  and  larger  cities. 
But  whether  easy  or  difficult,  an  awakened 
citizenship  is  saying  that  the  slum  must  go. 

The  slum  is  the  home  of  sin  in  its  reeking 
and  revolting  forms.  There  congregate  the 
scarlet  woman,  the  inebriate,  the  law-breaker 
— the  wrecked  and  ruined  sons  and  daughters 
of  a  common  father.  In  this  school  of 
crime  are  to  be  found  the  children — the  half- 
clad,  underfed  children,  who  are  almost 
certain  to  follow  in  the  sinful  ways  of  their 
elders.  The  slum  has  no  redeeming  feature. 
Ragged  schools  and  reform  schools  can  never 
essentially  change  its  conditions,  for  they 
work  with  results  and  not  with  causes;  and 
the  settlements  can  do  little  more  than  study, 
analyze,   educate,   and   point   the   way   out. 


^i 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        177 

But  the  slum  must  go.  Congestion  must  be 
broken  up.  Population  must  be  scattered. 
The  light  must  be  let  in;  the  city  must  be 
ruralized. 

There  are  many  forces  at  work  to  bring 
about  a  welcome  change  in  conditions,  the 
most  prominent  of  which  are,  industrial  re- 
movals, the  building  of  model  factory  villages, 
the  extension  of  the  rapid  transit  system,  the 
laying  out  of  new  tracts  by  real  estate  owners, 
the  garden  city  movement,  the  industrial 
housing  by  municipalities,  and  the  reclamation 
work  of  the  government.  But  while  the 
emphasis  for  the  present  is  placed  on  these, 
yet  we  must  not  for  one  moment  forget  the 
grand  work  of  letting  in  the  light  on  the  part 
of  the  municipality,  as  well  as  through  private 
initiative.  Jacob  Riis  saw  Bottle  Alley,  Ban- 
dit's Roost,  and  Kerosene  Row,  with  their 
fearful  death  rate  and  criminal  record ;  he  told 
the  story  of  the  wretchedness,  misery,  and  sin 
of  their  unfortunates;  he  told  it  over  and  over 
again  until  someone  moved,  and  those  parts 
of  the  slum  world  are  now  no  more. 

Letting  in  the  light  in  the  worst  places  has 
brought  into  evidence  the  grime  and  the  crime 


178       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  regions  which  in  the  darkness  seemed  more 
respectable.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time 
when  an  awakened  conscience  will  demand 
that  the  entire  slum  must  go.  Riis,  Waring, 
and  Roosevelt  let  some  light  into  New  York's 
slums,  and  every  city  took  courage  and  let 
light  into  other  slums.  Mr.  D.  O.  Mills  and 
Mrs.  Alfred  Corning  Clark  said,  "If  the  people 
must  live  in  this  huddled  up  condition,  we 
will  build  for  them  men's  hotels  and  model 
tenements,  that  they  may  live  more  decently 
and  with  less  danger  to  health  and  morals." 
Then  the  committees  on  small  parks  and  the 
playground  associations  opened  recreation 
centers,  baths  and  playgrounds,  and  the 
children  began  to  come  into  possession  of  their 
own.  The  Whyo  gang  and  the  Hook  gang 
were  no  longer  the  torment  of  the  policemen 
on  the  beat.  Yes,  the  slum  is  going  and  some 
of  us  may  help  to  speed  its  passage. 

Much  has  been  done  through  the  public 
schools  to  make  life  more  tolerable  in  the  con- 
gested districts.  The  roof  garden,  the  school 
garden,  industrial  classes,  and  lecture  courses 
are  saving  forces  competing  with  the  school 
of  the  street  which  trains  for  a  criminal  life; 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        179 

but  good  as  this  may  be,  how  much  better  it  is 
to  scatter  the  population  and  destroy  the 
slums. 

Through  the  establishment  of  a  fund  given 
by  the  late  Baron  de  Hirsch,  a  systematic 
attempt  has  been  made  to  distribute  Jewish 
immigrants  among  different  states  where  they 
can  follow  industrial  and  agricultural  pursuits 
in  exchange  for  their  former  commercial  life. 
A  systematic  effort  is  being  made  to  turn  the 
tide  of  Jewish  immigration  away  from  New 
York  and  the  other  great  centers.  Instruc- 
tion is  given  to  the  newly-landed  immigrant 
concerning  the  possibilities  in  other  parts  of 
the  country,  where  those  who  are  skilled  in 
certain  trades  are  sure  to  find  employment, 
and  where  there  are  Jewish  settlements  in 
which  they  can  find  friends  who  will  assist 
them  in  making  a  new  start  in  life. 

For  some  time  past  an  effort  has  been  made 
to  get  the  steamship  companies  to  make 
Galveston  a  port  of  entry  for  Jewish  immi- 
grants. At  least  one  line  has  responded,  and 
these  newcomers  arriving  on  its  first  steamer 
are  scattered  throughout  the  smaller  towns 
and  farms  of  Texas,  instead  of  being  taken  by 


180       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

way  of  New  York  and  crowded  into  its  Ghetto. 
In  the  success  of  this  movement  is  there  not  a 
suggestion  for  our  government  regarding  the 
proper  method  of  handling  the  entire  miUion 
of  aliens  that  reach  our  shores  each  year? 

While  movements  like  that  of  the  Industrial 
Removal  Office  are  being  promoted  by  in- 
terested philanthropists,  much  is  being  done 
in  the  way  of  relieving  city  congestion  along 
commercial  lines,  where  dividends  in  dollars 
are  the  chief  thing  sought  for.  The  rapid 
transit  and  real  estate  companies  are  scatter- 
ing population  in  a  normal  way.  As  long  as 
horse-cars  were  the  only  means  of  travel  for 
the  poor  man,  he  was  forced  to  live  near  the 
factory  in  which  he  worked.  Electricity  has 
greatly  enlarged  the  zone  in  which  it  is  possible 
for  the  factory  hand  to  reside.  In  fact, 
distance  is  no  longer  an  appreciable  factor,  a 
five  or  seven-cent  carfare  determining  the 
limit  of  travel. 

Nearly  every  city  now  has  its  interurban  and 
rapid  transit  lines  reaching  many  miles  into 
the  country,  and  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the 
operating  companies  to  encourage  settlers 
along  the  right-of-way. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        181 

A  new  profession  has  lately  arisen,  that  of 
city  architect,  and  the  monumental  plans 
already  offered  appeal  strongly  to  all  progres- 
sive citizens.  While  these  plans  have  given 
special  emphasis  to  cultural  and  civic  centers, 
they  ought  also  to  include  the  distribution  of 
the  city's  factories,  and  its  working  population. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  every  city  may  come  to 
plan  definitely  as  to  its  housing  and  factories; 
so  that  there  may  never  again  be  such  a  con- 
dition as  exists  in  New  York,  where  there  are 
five  blocks  with  more  than  3,000  tenants  in 
each. 

Factory  owners  can  render  great  service  to 
the  city  by  removing  their  factories  to  the 
suburbs;  and  if  necessary  building  model 
industrial  villages,  thus  attracting  workmen 
with  their  families  from  the  congested  dis- 
tricts. Such  a  thing  would  pay,  for  land  is 
cheaper  in  the  country;  and  a  larger  measure 
of  capital  could  be  employed  in  new  buildings, 
more  completely  equipped  with  up-to-date 
machinery,  and  with  safety  and  sanitary 
appliances.  Above  all,  health  and  happiness, 
and  increased  morality  will  add  much  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  employees.    The  fact  that 


182       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

this  movement,  even  though  it  be  made  sel- 
fishly, places  the  employer  in  the  line  of  social 
service  work,  ought  to  be  an  added  incentive 
to  such  industrial  removals. 

Much  has  already  been  done  voluntarily  in 
changing  the  conditions  of  labor  in  factories. 
The  enforcement  of  new  factory  laws  has  forced 
many  owners  to  clean  up,  to  let  in  light  and  to 
treat  their  employees  more  humanely.  Yet 
when  all  is  done  to  mitigate  existing  evils,  there 
will  still  remain  in  the  hemmed-in  buildings  a 
condition  far  from  ideal.  Gloomy  surround- 
ings, bad  air,  dusty  atmosphere,  cramped 
quarters,  all  make  for  ill  health  and  inefficient 
work. 

Those  employers  who  have  removed  their 
factories  to  the  suburbs  testify  that  it  pays, 
and  that  they  have  been  able  to  expand  their 
business  as  they  never  could  have  done  in  the 
old  surroundings.  The  Cadburys,  the  cel- 
ebrated cocoa-makers  of  England,  for  instance, 
moved  to  Bourneville  from  Birmingham,  and 
in  an  ideal  rural  situation  increased  the  number 
of  their  employees  from  300  to  3,600.  Visitors 
to  this  model  village  are  unstinted  in  their 
praise  of  this  method  of  housing  workmen  and 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       183 

giving  them  an  environment  so  much  better 
than  that  of  the  slums. 

The  list  is  long  of  the  industrial  removals 
from  the  crowded  cities  of  England.  The 
Rowntrees  of  York,  the  Levers  of  Port  Sun- 
light, the  Clarks  of  Street,  the  Chivers  of 
Histon,  and  Graves  of  Sheffield,  have  all  set 
an  excellent  example  to  their  competitors  in 
the  crowded  cities.  Many  of  the  printing 
houses,  both  in  England  and  America,  have 
moved  to  the  country  with  good  results,  both 
as  to  the  health  and  morals  of  their  workmen, 
and  with  increased  financial  returns.  Scores 
of  large  manufacturers  in  the  United  States 
have  learned  the  value  of  having  a  factory 
in  a  garden  and  have  moved  their  factories  to 
rural  surroundings.  These  successful  experi- 
ments ought  to  lead  many  others  to  plan  for 
the  removal  of  their  plants  at  least  to  the 
outskirts  of  the  town.  The  greater  city  may 
become  and  ought  to  become  the  better  city. 
The  scattering  of  population  over  a  wide  area 
wherever  undertaken,  has  produced  purer 
morals,  greater  efficiency,  and  cleaner  govern- 
ment. 

A  city  encircled  by  a  hundred  model  in- 


184       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

dustrial  villages  is  a  better  city  than  the  one 
where  a  hundred  factories  in  the  midst  of 
congested  tenements  pour  forth  their  volumes 
of  smoke  to  defile  the  air  and  shut  out  the 
sunlight.  It  is  a  good  omen  for  the  future 
that  captains  of  industry  and  many  municipal- 
ities are  now  busy  building  industrial  villages 
where  once  were  barley  fields  and  truck 
gardens,  for  they  are  realizing  the  evils  of 
congestion,  and  also  the  good  resulting  from 
proper  housing  conditions.  A  home  in  a 
village  free  from  the  saloon  and  its  kindred 
evils  makes  for  sobriety  and  industry  far 
more  than  life  in  a  tenement  surrounded  by 
dives  and  barrel-houses.  Times  are  un- 
doubtedly changing,  and  a  new  altruistic  spirit 
is  in  the  air.  Men  are  beginning  to  think  of 
"the  other  fellow"  at  the  same  time  that  they 
plan  for  dividends. 

Total  abstinence  is  one  of  the  best  assets 
that  the  workman  of  today  can  possess.  It 
is  almost  as  good  a  recommendation  as  effi- 
ciency. That  both  are  essential  to  good 
workmanship  is  now  recognized  by  nearly 
every  employer  of  labor.  Because  of  this  the 
owners  of  large  factories  and  mills  are  almost 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        185 

as  deeply  interested  in  the  environment  of 
their  workmen  as  they  are  in  finding  markets 
for  their  products. 

Notwithstanding  the  praiseworthy  efforts 
which  are  being  made  to  build  model  tene- 
ments, congested  life  can  never  be  made  ideal. 
Where  there  is  a  population  of  1,000  to  the 
acre,  the  saloon  is  sure  to  be  strongly  in- 
trenched; and  only  by  beginning  anew,  by 
closing  up  the  slum  and  eliminating  the  saloon, 
can  the  standard  be  raised. 

That  temperance  is  a  business  asset  is  an 
accepted  fact  of  modern  commerce.  Even  a 
drinking  employer  will  insist  that  his  em- 
ployees do  not  visit  the  saloon,  and  con- 
sequently he  is  interested  in  banishing  the 
temptation  to  drink.  There  has  been  found 
no  better  way  to  accomplish  this  end  than  by 
beginning  a  new  village  life,  free  from  the 
saloon  curse. 

In  his  "Model  Factories  and  Villages," 
Budget  Meakin  quotes  from  a  report  pre- 
sented to  the  directors  of  the  Guinness  Brewery 
by  its  chief  medical  oflBcer,  in  which  he  dis- 
cusses the  value  of  the  housing  problem,  as 
follows:     "Until  our  families  are  given  the 


186         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

opportunity  of  being  comfortably  and  decently 
housed  we  cannot  expect  to  do  much  in  raising 
their  social  and  moral  standard.  I,  therefore, 
make  so  bold  as  to  look  forward  to  the  day 
when  a  brewery  model  village  is  built  on  the 
lines  of  Cadbury's  at  Bourneville,  and  Lever 
Brothers,  at  Port  Sunlight,  where  our  people 
can  obtain  a  small  one  or  two  storied  cottage 
at  a  reasonable  rent.  That  the  tenement 
house  system,  except  for  the  very  poor  who 
must  continue  to  reside  in  a  congested  city  area, 
is  a  retrograde  step,  I  am  strongly  of  opinion; 
such  a  system  neither  conduces  to  good  morals 
nor  a  high  social  standard  of  living.  The 
well-paid  laborer,  whose  earnings  are  constant, 
should  be  given  a  chance  of  having  a  self- 
contained  home  of  his  own;  such  a  cottage  can 
be  made  home-like,  attractive  and  comfortable. 
In  few  cases  is  this  possible  in  a  tenement 
building.'' 

Surely  if  the  brewery  feels  the  need  of  ideal 
surroundings  for  their  men,  other  manu- 
facturers ought  not  to  be  far  behind.  In  the 
effort  to  solve  the  problem  of  finding  shelter 
for  a  million  people,  private  initiative  began 
the  erection  of  multiple  dwellings,  known  as 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        187 

model  tenements,  and  if  tenements  must  be 
built  they  were  as  near  the  ideal  as  could  be 
devised.  But  many  believe  that  there  is  a 
more  excellent  way  of  solving  the  housing 
problem. 

To  provide  shelter  for  a  city's  poor  is  a 
problem  too  great  to  be  left  to  the  ordinary 
law  of  supply  and  demand.  Experts  must 
study,  philanthropists  must  experiment,  and 
municipalities  must  legislate  or  the  slums  will 
increase. 

The  city  authorities  and  the  manufacturers 
are  experimenting  along  still  newer  lines  by 
establishing  rural  colonies  to  relieve  city  con- 
gestion. Many  such  communities  have  been 
established  in  the  past  year  in  France,  Ger- 
many, Denmark,  England  and  America.  The 
houses  erected  are  artistic,  sanitary,  and  com- 
fortable. In  them  mill  hands  can  live  cheaply, 
in  the  midst  of  conditions  which  a  high-paid 
artisan  could  not  afford  in  the  city  itself.  A 
recent  writer,  speaking  of  the  changes  de- 
manded, makes  the  following  forecast:  "It  is 
fairly  certain  that  if  London  goes  on  increasing 
and  developing  as  it  has  done  for  more  than  a 
century,  the  central  districts  will  be  denuded 


188       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  all  resident  population  beyond  a  handful 
of  caretakers;  and  improved  transit  will 
spread  the  crowds  now  swarming  about  the 
center  over  the  whole  circumjacent  country. 
Then  the  workman  and  employer  alike  will 
live  in  semi-rural  surroundings  and  only  work 
in  the  city." 

In  America,  assuredly,  housing  congestion 
and  factory  congestion  go  hand  in  hand.  The 
factories  must  therefore  be  scattered  as  well 
as  the  people;  and  this  is  where  the  enlightened 
members  of  the  community  must  place  the 
emphasis  in  conducting  the  necessary  edu- 
cational propaganda.  All  manufacturers  must 
be  shown  the  splendid  results  of  industrial 
removals  and  village  building,  until  they  come 
to  see  that  it  will  pay  them  in  every  way  to 
remove  from  the  congested  districts. 

A  strong  and  widespread  effort  is  being  put 
forth  to  re-make  our  American  cities  according 
to  definite  plans,  which  frequently  involve  a 
cost  of  millions  of  dollars.  Much  of  this  vast 
outlay  can  be  saved  by  laying  out  new  villages 
and  suburbs  in  such  a  way  that  there  will  be 
no  need  of  extensive  change;  and  such  re- 
strictions should  be  made  as  to  make  certain 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        189 

that  there  will  never  be  any  new  congested 
districts. 

Governor  Hughes  is  reported  as  raising  the 
question  as  to  the  wisdom  of  putting  people  in 
hospitals  and  caring  for  them,  and  of  imprison- 
ing them  for  crime  and  burdening  the  com- 
munity with  large  loads  of  prison  and  hospital 
bills,  if  we  can  save  human  beings  from  disease 
and  crime,  and  at  the  same  time  increase  their 
efficiency  by  checking  congestion.  It  is  surely 
the  dictate  of  wisdom  to  strike  at  the  causes  of 
disease  and  crime! 

A  quotation  from  an  editorial  by  Dr.  Devine 
in  The  Survey  summarizes  the  foregoing 
contentions  thus:  "The  difficulty,  in  a  word,  is 
that  we  have  an  uneconomical  and  socially 
injurious  distribution  of  our  national  industries. 
From  the  national  standpoint,  under  the 
present  conditions,  it  is  eminently  desirable 
that  manufactures  and  commerce  should  be  to 
some  extent  transferred  from  the  large  centers 
of  population  to  the  smaller  cities  and  towns. 
By  port  restriction  of  immigration,  by  the 
encouragement  of  removal  on  a  large  scale 
from  the  great  cities  to  villages  and  towns,  by  a 
better  distribution  of  population  within  the 


190       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

geographical  limits  of  cities,  suburbs  gaining 
on  cities,  and  outlying  sections  on  congested 
districts,  by  attention  to  town  planning,  the 
re-location  of  factories,  the  development  of 
the  transportation  system  and  by  a  reversal 
of  all  policies,  national  and  local,  which  have 
favored  the  concentration  of  population  in  a 
few  spots,  the  nation  must  set  its  face  against 
the  evils  of  congestion." 

Although  the  idea  of  city  planning  is  com- 
paratively new,  there  are  to  be  found  some  in 
every  city  of  the  land  who  are  seeking  to  make 
of  the  whole  city  from  all  points  of  view  an 
ideal  place  in  which  to  live,  of  making  it  a 
city  of  homes  instead  of  tenements,  lodging 
houses  or  even  apartment  houses.  Why 
should  it  be  left  to  the  caprice  of  a  few  indi- 
viduals to  decide  whether  the  land  outside  of  a 
growing  city  should  be  held  as  vacant  property 
waiting  for  larger  returns,  or  laid  out  in  some 
kind  of  allotments,  without  regard  to  the 
interests  of  the  rest  of  the  city  ?  Far  better  for 
the  city  itself  to  decide  in  advance  the  char- 
acter of  all  of  the  surrounding  neighborhoods, 
buying  and  laying  out  in  advance,  for  parks 
and  playgrounds;  establishing  industrial,  resi- 


THE  BETTER    COUNTRY       191 

dential  and  agricultural  districts,  all  with 
an  idea  to  beauty  as  well  as  to  utility.  Where 
entire  towns  can  be  plotted  before  settlement, 
everyone  of  them  should  be  made  a  Garden 
City. 

Along  with  the  movement  to  ruralize  the 
city,  by  adorning  it  with  trees  and  parks  and 
liberal  lawns,  thus  bringing  much  of  the  best 
of  the  country  into  the  city,  there  comes  also  a 
counter  movement,  namely,  an  effort  to 
urbanize  the  country,  carrying  into  it  much 
that  makes  life  larger  and  richer.  A  deep 
longing  for  the  land  has  taken  possession  of 
our  city  people.  The  abandoned  farms  of 
New  England  are  being  absorbed  by  the 
wealthy  citizens  of  Boston  and  New  York. 
"During  school  days  we  exist  in  New  York," 
said  a  friend,  in  a  rich  apartment  house,  "but 
we  live  in  the  country."  The  old  time  jokes 
concerning  the  unhappy  lot  of  the  suburbanite, 
or  even  of  the  "Reuben"  must  be  laid  aside, 
for  to  these,  in  this  new  day  of  electricity,  have 
come  more  of  the  joys  and  enrichments  of 
life  than  to  the  crowded  dwellers  of  the  noisy 
city.  This  migration  countryward  is  signifi- 
cant as  one  of  the  great  world  movements. 


192       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

It  raises  the  question,  Do  we  really  need  a 
great  city?  The  last  two  decades  saw  the 
growth  of  the  skyscraper,  which  drew  people 
to  the  center,  but  at  the  same  time  came  the 
trolley  line  whose  business  it  is  to  scatter  the 
population.  The  old  world  has  chosen  to 
limit  the  height  of  its  buildings,  and  has  also 
undertaken  to  enlarge  the  borders  of  its 
dwelling  places.  May  we  not  hope  for  the 
speedy  arrival  of  the  good  time  when  all  of  the 
habitable  land  may  be  settled  so  ideally,  that 
there  shall  not  be  so  many  buildings  as  to  cause 
congestion,  or  districts  so  thinly  populated 
that  the  people  shall  be  lonesome  for  lack  of 
neighbors.  Until  then  some  of  the  people 
must  of  necessity  live  under  unsanitary  con- 
ditions in  disease  breeding  districts,  where 
physical  and  moral  deterioration  are  the 
natural  results.  The  cry  "Back  to  the  land" 
is  in  reality  the  cry  "Back  to  the  farm." 

From  the  standpoint  of  good  home-making, 
the  question  to  be  decided  is,  How  many  acres 
of  land  are  necessary  in  order  to  gain  a  liveUhood 
through  agriculture  .f^  In  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion. President  Roosevelt  says,  "With  an 
adequate  supply  of  water,  a  farm  of  five  acres 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        193 

in  some  parts  of  the  arid  west,  or  of  forty  acres 
in  other  parts  is  as  large  as  may  be  successfully 
tilled  by  one  family."  Bolton  Hall,  in  his 
Suburban  Farms  Association  in  New  York, 
and  Wm.  E.  Smythe,  in  his  ^'Little  Landers" 
at  San  Diego,  are  claiming  that  on  one  to  three 
acres  of  land  near  a  large  town,  a  family  may 
secure  a  good  income  if  the  products  of  the 
farm  are  sold  co-operatively.  The  smallness 
of  the  plots  brings  the  homes  close  enough 
together  for  the  pleasure  of  village  life,  with- 
out the  evils  of  the  city,  or  the  loneliness  of  the 
frontier. 

The  land  hunger  that  has  long  characterized 
the  old  world,  is  now  in  evidence  in  America. 
It  would  be  hard  to  satisfy  this  deep-seated 
hunger  were  it  not  for  the  friendly  offices  of 
the  federal  government,  because  it  believes 
that  the  establishment  of  the  rural  home  means 
improvement  in  citizenship  and  in  stability  of 
American  institutions.  This  nation  is  offering 
land  to  every  citizen,  on  the  most  liberal 
terms.  Before  this  policy  was  adopted,  there 
was  a  great  rush  for  the  lands  in  the  last 
frontier  of  Canada  and  100,000  citizens  left 
the  United  States  for  Alberta  and  the  Canadian 


194       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Northwest.  The  opening  of  Oklahoma  saw  a 
great  land  rush,  and  the  same  thing  happened 
when  President  Roosevelt  opened  the  Rose- 
bud Reservation  in  South  Dakota — a  great 
stretch  of  382,000  acres — offered  at  one  dollar 
down,  and  seventy -five  cents  per  acre  for  four 
years.  One  of  the  last  of  the  great  land- 
rushes  has  just  taken  place,  namely,  the  dis- 
tributing among  homesteaders  by  the  Govern- 
ment's lottery  plan,  of  400,000  acres  of  the 
Couer  d'  Alene  Reservation  in  Idaho,  6,000 
acres  Spokane  Reservation  in  eastern  Wash- 
ington, and  450,000  acres  of  the  Flathead 
Reservation  in  Western  Montana,  furnishing 
homes  for  nearly  20,000  people  drawn  from 
the  cities  and  the  crowded  farms  of  the  middle 
west.  As  an  evidence  of  the  demand  for 
land  for  home  sites,  let  it  be  noted  that  for 
3,700  available  homesteads,  there  were  at 
Spokane  between  August  9th  and  16th, 
286,238  applicants  lined  up  and  waiting  for 
the  drawing,  which  was  done  in  the  following 
manner:  The  applications  having  been  placed 
in  envelopes  were  sealed  in  cans;  these  were 
cut  open  in  view  of  the  people,  and  the  enve- 
lopes being  piled  in  a  great  heap  on  a  platform 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       195 

were  mixed  with  shovels,  and  a  blindfolded 
girl  drew  them  from  the  pile,  one  at  a  time, 
until  the  last  of  the  prizes  was  taken.  The 
282,538  applicants  turned  back  to  the  cities, 
or  went  on  to  some  further  hunt  for  home  sites. 

For  these  disappointed  ones,  and  millions 
of  others,  our  government  is  now  busy  work- 
ing out  a  plan  whereby  all  of  them  who  will, 
may  have  a  rural  home,  with  all  the  conven- 
iences of  modern  life.  The  government  is 
wise  in  giving  attention  to  its  homes,  for  if 
they  are  bad,  or  if  they  are  massed  together  in 
congested,  vicious  neighborhoods,  they  may 
become  breeding  places  for  crime.  If  the 
nation  is  justified  in  giving  attention  to  the 
rain-barrel  from  which  the  stegomia  mosquito 
starts  on  its  fever-producing  mission,  because 
yellow  fever  may  destroy  hundreds  of  lives, 
certainly  human  environments  which  make 
for  evil  ought  also  to  receive  its  attention,  for 
millions  of  lives  as  well  as  the  morals  of  the 
land  are  at  stake.  To  this  work  of  home- 
making,  several  of  the  departments  of  the 
government  are  giving  special  thought. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  is  working, 
not  alone  to  increase  the  farmer's  bank  account 


196       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

but  also  to  enrich  his  life  in  the  things  that 
make  life  worth  the  living.  The  Department 
of  Commerce  and  Labor  is  studying  the  ques- 
tion of  labor  in  its  relation  to  the  home.  They 
are  asking  if  twenty -one  women  out  of  every 
hundred  are  bread-winners,  what  about  the 
problem  of  dying  babies?  If  a  multitude  of 
children  labor  at  the  loom  and  the  coal  breaker, 
what  will  be  the  effect  on  the  next  generation 
of  home  makers?  If  in  the  industrial  world, 
hundreds  of  thousands  are  forced  to  work  for 
less  than  a  living  wage,  what  chance  will  there 
be  for  such  workers  to  own  a  home? 

As  long  as  there  was  available  free  land, 
the  Interior  Department  gave  to  all  who  sought 
it  a  homestead,  which  by  diligent  labor  could 
be  made  into  a  homesite.  The  Bureau  of 
Immigration  has  undertaken  a  new  work  of 
scattering  the  immigrant,  and  this  may  de- 
velop into  a  search  for  homes  for  him,  as  well 
as  for  a  chance  to  labor.  But  it  remained  for 
the  Reclamation  Service  to  undertake  the  real 
work  of  home  making  for  a  nation.  The 
Reclamation  Service  is  now  "impounding 
mountain-born  streams  and  distributing  them 
over  desert  fields  where  only  the  zahuara  figs 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        197 

and  mesquite  beans  have  ripened  for  wander- 
ing Indians,"  and  this  means  more  than  raising 
Smyrna  figs  and  mission  grapes  on  irrigated 
lands,  it  spells  equality  of  opportunity  for 
many  who  are  now  slaves  of  a  competitive 
system. 

The  annual  sale  of  over  $8,000,000,000  of 
farm  products  has  not  compensated  the  farmer 
for  the  loss  of  the  advantages  which  the  city 
has  to  offer.  The  report  of  the  President's 
Country  Life  Commission  shows  conclusively 
that  the  closely  settled  rural  community,  with 
scientific  intensive  farming,  together  with  more 
complete  agricultural  education,  will  contri- 
bute greatly  towards  the  urbanizing  of  the 
country-side,  checking  the  drift  of  the 
boys  and  girls  cityward,  and  also  prevent- 
ing the  final  abandonment  of  the  farm.  As  an 
example  to  the  older  regions,  the  government 
is  now  building  cities  for  the  farmers.  Of 
necessity,  this  work  must  be  done  in  the  arid 
regions  for  it  is  there  and  there  only  for  the 
present  that  the  Reclamation  Service  is  at 
work.  There  in  the  desert,  with  its  sage  brush 
and  grease  wood,  its  rattlesnakes  and  Gila 
monsters,  a  land  parched  by  the  burning  sun 


198       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

and  shunned  by  all  but  the  most  venturesome 
white  man,  on  this  last  frontier,  the  govern- 
ment is  planning  to  settle  its  citizens  in  com- 
fort, in  homes  of  their  own,  with  the  promise 
of  health  and  wealth  and  happiness  to  all 
who  may  have  the  true  co-operative  spirit. 

In  this  region,  long  vacant  and  voiceless, 
and  regarded  as  valueless,  a  region  large 
enough  if  placed  in  one  tract  to  make  a  great 
new  state  richer  and  more  densely  populated 
than  any  in  the  union,  the  Reclamation  Serv- 
ice is  seeking  to  build  ideal  rural  communi- 
ties. The  government  believes  that  "a  multi- 
tude of  little  farms,  well  tilled,  instead  of  a 
few  wealthy,  powerful  cities  and  a  depopulated 
country,  are  of  greatest  importance  for  this 
country's  future  greatness,"  and  that,  "com- 
pact farming  communities  insure  almost  ideal 
social  conditions,  bring  educational  advan- 
tages never  before  heard  of  to  the  farmer's 
family,  which  will  forever  do  away  with  the 
isolation  of  ranching  in  the  desert,  and  pro- 
mote intelligent,  progressive  citizenship." 

These  closer  social  relations  will  relieve  the 
farm  life  of  its  loneliness  and  enable  the 
farmer's  family  to  keep  up  with  the  spirit  and 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       199 

amusements  of  the  urban  settlements.  The 
new  idea  now  being  actuaHzed  by  the  Recla- 
mation Service  is  that  of  the  "farm  unit  city,'* 
as  centers  of  highly  intelligent  farming  com- 
munities. 

In  every  reclamation  project,  it  is  planned 
to  establish  several  town  sites  about  one  mile 
square,  these  town  sites  to  be  so  arranged  that 
no  farm  will  be  more  than  four  miles  distant. 
The  center  of  the  town  will  be  reserved 
for  a  public  school,  around  which  will  run  a 
broad  street;  the  main  streets  will  terminate 
at  the  schoolhouse,  and  broad  diagonal  streets 
will  run  far  into  the  country.  The  school- 
house  thus  becomes  the  civic  and  social,  as 
well  as  the  educational  center.  And,  inas- 
much as  in  the  building  of  nearly  every  dam, 
electricity  is  developed  for  power,  when  the 
water  is  turned  on  the  electricity  will  be  avail- 
able for  all  purposes  in  the  homes  of  the  town. 
In  some  cases  there  will  be  enough  electricity 
to  be  sold  for  power  for  farm  and  factory. 
On  one  of  these  projects  coal  has  been  dis- 
covered and  this  will  probably  be  turned  into 
electricity  at  the  pit  mouth  instead  of  by  the 
wasteful  smoky  method  so  common  in  the 
middle  west. 


200       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Through  the  co-operation  of  the  Good 
Roads  Division,  the  roads  leading  from  town 
to  town  will  resemble  boulevards,  thus  greatly 
aiding  in  the  social  life  of  the  larger  commun- 
ity. These  roads,  will,  no  doubt,  be  lighted 
by  electricity.  The  towns  will  be  equipped 
with  water  and  sewer  systems,  parks  and 
playgrounds,  as  every  town  might  be  if  only  it 
had  been  possible  for  it  to  have  been  planned 
in  advance,  as  are  these  government  towns. 
Rural  telephone,  and  rural  postal  delivery  will 
keep  the  entire  community  in  touch  with  one 
another  and  with  the  wide  world  beyond. 
As  every  farm  will  be  within  easy  reach  of 
the  center,  without  doubt  every  farmer  will 
choose  to  live  in  town  and  will  drive  to  work 
every  morning,  thus  fulfilling  the  dream  of  a 
happy  combination  of  urban  and  rural  life; 
a  life  favorable  to  the  development  of  the  best 
and  noblest  institutions  of  society. 

At  a  center  of  service  to  several  towns,  the 
Union  High  school  will  be  built,  the  pupils 
brought  when  necessary  in  wagons,  thus 
making  it  possible  for  every  boy  and  girl  to 
secure  a  thorough  education,  for  this  union 
method  will  guarantee  a  school  large  enough 


w 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       201 

to  attract  the  best  teachers  and  strong  enough 
financially  to  secure  the  best  equipment.  As 
this  plan  widens  out,  the  day  of  the  little  red 
schoolhouse  will  pass  away.  In  time  every 
one  of  the  growing  municipalities  under  this 
Federal  system  may  have  its  own  public 
utilities.  The  creation  of  the  new  town  site 
will  furnish  an  experiment  in  municipal  owner- 
ship well  worth  the  watching. 

In  order  to  insure  success  even  to  the  in- 
experienced irrigator,  the  government  has 
"established  experts  on  the  land  to  show  the 
settler  the  best  methods  of  using  the  water. 
It  also  gives  information  as  to  the  soils  and 
the  best  manner  of  working  them,  what  crops 
are  the  most  profitable  and  the  best  manner  of 
cultivating  them.  It  virtually  conducts  agri- 
cultural kindergartens  on  experiment  farms 
in  the  various  tracts,  giving  guidance  that  is 
invaluable  to  the  settler  not  familiar  with 
irrigation  farming.  The  trained  farmers  them- 
selves develop  many  new  ideas  by  their  con- 
stant experiments.  The  experts  are  glad  to 
have  the  co-operation  of  these  experienced 
husbandmen." 

Is  there  any  wonder  that  the  demand  for 


202       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

these  reclaimed  lands  is  so  great  that  nearly 
every  acre  is  homesteaded  long  before  the 
dam  is  finished,  and  the  water  turned  into  the 
ditches?  Already  several  towns  are  well 
started  although  only  water  suflScient  for  house- 
hold uses  has  thus  far  been  developed.  New 
settlers  are  flocking  in,  largely  from  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  and  Chicago  has  become  a  distri- 
bution center.  Although  these  lands  are 
given  free  by  a  liberal  government,  yet  money 
is  required  by  the  settler  in  order  that  he  may 
be  properly  established  without  too  great 
hardships. 

The  following  estimate  of  things  required  is 
made  by  one  of  the  early  settlers:  "One  ought 
to  have  at  least  $1,000.  Of  course  I  do  not 
mean  that  a  person  ought  to  have  that  in 
cash,  but  he  ought  to  have  a  team,  some 
household  furniture,  a  cow  or  two,  some  hogs, 
and  some  chickens  and  money  enough  to 
maintain  himself  for  about  a  year,  besides 
enough  to  build  him  some  sort  of  a  house." 
He  adds,  *'It  is  not  always  the  lack  of  means 
or  the  pleasures  of  the  city  that  deter  people 
from  gathering  their  effects  and  journeying  to 
distant  regions  to  establish  new  residences.     It 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       203 

is  the  sentiment  that  surrounds  home  ties,  the 
love  of  old  association  that  deters  many  from 
changing  their  places  of  abode.  It  is  hard  for 
people  to  leave  familiar  surroundings,  break 
away  from  the  close  friends  they  have  been 
among  for  years  and  put  miles  between  them- 
selves and  those  associations  endeared  to  their 
hearts.  There  is  a  solution  for  this,  though. 
Families  may  co-operate  and  journey  in  com- 
munities from  the  cities  to  the  new  lands. 
Three  or  four  families,  either  of  relatives  or  of 
close  friends  could  take  up  farms  together,  and 
establish  themselves  in  the  further  west. 
There  would  be  no  breaking  of  the  old  familiar 
ties.  The  hegira  would,  under  these  circum- 
stances, become  more  of  a  pleasure  trip,  the 
new  life  a  pleasant  one,  filled  with  the  same  old 
friends,  preserving  the  same  old  ties." 

During  the  settlement  of  the  middle  west 
and  the  far  west,  there  were  many  instances  of 
the  establishment  of  colonies  like  Grinnell, 
Iowa;  Greeley ,  Colorado ;  Ontario,  California, 
in  which  the  co-operative  spirit  aided  much  in 
the  ultimate  success  of  the  undertaking,  but  no 
other  enterprise  has  ever  developed  such  a 
combination  of  collectivism,  fraternalism,  and 


204       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

individualism,  as  is  found  in  the  government 
reclamation  projects.  Collectivism  is  em- 
ployed in  the  building  by  the  nation  of  the 
great  reservoir  and  the  retention  of  its  owner- 
ship and  control,  because  upon  its  future  en- 
largement must  depend  the  further  expansion 
of  reclamation.  Co-operation  and  fraternalism 
are  necessary,  because  each  settlement  is 
organized  as  a  water  user's  association,  no 
one  person  being  allowed  more  water  than  is 
needed  for  160  acres.  In  these  ways,  there 
comes  about  a  community  of  interest,  which 
in  a  marked  degree  leads  each  to  work  to- 
gether for  the  good  of  all.  Individual  initia- 
tive is  necessary  in  the  intensive  cultivation  of 
the  individual  farms.  Here  individualism  is 
at  its  best.  Fraternalism  is  the  natural  method 
of  life,  and  the  government  stands  behind  to 
guarantee  the  success  of  the  entire  movement. 
The  nation  is  providing  homes  for  the  most 
citizens  possible,  but  it  is  for  them  to  deter- 
mine that  thrift  shall  bring  the  patent,  and 
that  here  the  great  co-operative  tendencies  of 
the  time  shall  come  to  their  fairest  fruitage. 

A  suggestion  is  offered  to  young  men  now  in 
college,  who  are  settling  the  question  of  their 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       205 

life's  work.  If  six  or  more  of  them  should  form 
a  compact  that  on  the  completion  of  their 
special  courses  they  will  go  to  a  government 
"project,"  settling  in  the  different  towns,  as 
doctor,  lawyer,  preacher,  teacher,  merchant, 
or  agricultural  expert,  with  the  determination 
that  as  a  united  band  they  will  work  together 
for  the  highest  social  ideals;  agreeing  that 
there  may  never  be  a  saloon  located  in  any  of 
the  towns;  that  there  shall  be  no  crime-breed- 
ing spots,  and  that  the  rights  of  the  lowliest 
shall  be  guarded — how  much  better  would  be 
such  a  co-operative  movement  among  edu- 
cated men  in  a  new  land  of  opportunity,  than 
the  best  possible  condition  under  the  com- 
petitive struggle  of  the  older  cities. 

That  a  community  "made  up  of  people  who 
own  their  own  holdings  and  live  on  them  is 
of  infinitely  more  value  to  the  nation  than  any 
area,  however  rich  and  productive,  owned  by  a 
few  persons  and  tilled  by  hired  labor  or  rented 
to  the  men  who  cultivate  it,"  is  self-evident. 

But  wonderful  as  is  the  work  which  the 
nation  is  doing  in  getting  the  people  on  the 
land,  and  protecting  them  from  exploitation, 
yet    something    more    must    be    done.     The 


206       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

fellow  who  is  down  must  be  given  a  chance. 
The  ambition  for  independence  must  be 
aroused  in  the  souls  of  the  discouraged.  The 
immigrants  must  be  placed  on  the  land  in 
order  that  society  may  be  protected  from  the 
final  revenge  of  the  slum.  The  overflow  and 
idle  population  must  be  distributed.  For  the 
settler  who  has  suflBcient  capital,  the  present 
irrigation  projects  furnish  a  grand  opportunity, 
but  the  next  great  battle  will  be  for  the  adop- 
tion of  the  New  Zealand  system  of  advance 
to  settlers;  which  may  be  thus  epitomized: 
"Place  this  waste  labor  upon  the  waste  land 
by  means  of  waste  capital,  and  thereby  con- 
vert this  trinity  of  waste  into  a  unity  of  pro- 
duction." 

It  is  reported  that  the  late  Senator  Hanna 
just  before  his  death  was  preparing  a  Senate 
bill,  outlining  the  creation  of  model  towns  on 
reclaimed  lands,  by  the  selling  of  bonds  to  the 
value  of  $50,000,000,  and  by  granting  the 
government  power  to  make  loans  of  from 
$500  to  $1,000  to  poor  but  worthy  home- 
seekers.  New  Zealand  has  already  expended 
$20,000,000  in  aiding  her  farmers  to  establish 
rural  colonies,  thinking  it  wise  to  borrow  at 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       207 

three  per  cent  and  loan  at  four  per  cent  to 
settlers.  In  her  experience,  she  has  never 
lost  a  dollar,  but  for  every  dollar  loaned,  has 
added  five  dollars  to  the  wealth  of  the  country. 

The  United  States  can  surely  adopt  this 
or  a  better  method,  thereby  converting  possi- 
ble pauper  dependents  on  charity  into  aflOiuent 
home  owners.  Some  day,  perhaps,  this  nation 
may  become  interested  in  seeing  that  every 
American  in  this  fair  land  has  a  home  whether 
he  be  a  younger  son — the  typical  prodigal,  a 
new  American,  or  one  of  the  dispossessed. 

This  nation  has  entered  upon  the  work  of 
building  homes,  and  no  cry  of  over-paternal- 
ism will  ever  cause  her  to  yield  up  the  ideal  of 
giving  a  home  to  every  American. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Enrichment  of  Life 

A  nation  building  homes  for  its  people — 
that  seems  to  the  conservative  like  a  long  step 
toward  the  co-operative  Commonwealth,  but 
having  gone  this  far  our  nation  must  go  still 
farther,  and  give  attention  to  the  enrichment 
of  the  life  of  all  the  people;  for  the  highest 
civilization  of  any  land  is  not  tested  by  the 
amount  of  wealth  counted  in  dollars  which  it 
may  possess,  but  by  the  kind  and  quality  of 
the  men  which  it  develops. 

This  nation  is  most  successful  in  its  work 
of  aiding  the  evolution  of  plant  and  animal 
life.  The  time  has  come,  in  a  collective  way, 
for  all  citizens  to  become  workers  together 
with  God  in  aiding  human  evolution  on  the 
mental,  moral  and  physical  planes,  in  the 
struggle  upward.  In  this,  we  are  working 
for  the  future,  and  in  proportion  as  we  of 
America  accept  our  responsibility  as  trustees 
of  the  nation's  welfare,  our  children  and  our 
children's  children  will  call  us  blessed. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       209 

The  federal  government  is  coming  into 
personal  touch  with  the  people  at  large  in 
many  ways,  but  in  none  more  closely  than 
through  the  Post  Office  Department.  A  re- 
port to  the  House  of  Representatives  says, 
"Upon  the  Postal  Service  more  than  upon 
anything  else  depends  the  general  economic, 
social,  and  political  development  of  our  coun- 
try." Through  this  service,  the  whole  world 
is  brought  within  reach  of  every  man,  whether 
he  lives  in  Boston,  or  Alaska,  Porto  Rico  or 
Guam.  It  gives  access  to  knowledge,  cements 
the  bonds  of  friendship  and  helps  to  overcome 
the  sense  of  loneliness  because  of  isolation. 
Through  the  Postal  Service,  the  government 
stands  ready  to  send  of  its  stores  of  knowledge 
accumulated  by  the  departments,  books  and 
pamphlets,  reports  and  bulletins,  that  would 
fill  a  small  library.  Even  the  most  remote 
mountaineer  or  dry  farmer  on  the  desert,  by 
merely  sending  a  request,  can  receive  by  return 
mail  from  the  government,  without  charge, 
that  which  if  paid  for,  only  the  rich  might  buy.* 

^INSTRUCTION  OF  SCHOOL  CHILDREN  IN  POSTAL 
MATTERS. 
On  September  18, 1908,  the  following  order  was  issued: 
Postmasters  are  hereby  directed  to  confer  with  their  local 
school  authorities  with  the  view  of  adopting  the  most  efiPective 


210       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  world  has  for  so  long  a  time  been  ac- 
customed to  the  usual  workings  of  the  Postal 
Service  that  it  seldom  asks  the  question, 
whether  this  can  be  improved,  yet  there  is 
evidence  of  an  increasing  demand  for  the 
greatest  service  which  it  is  possible  for  the 
Department  to  render.  Cities  had  long  been 
accustomed  to  the  daily  delivery  of  mail 
before  the  demand  for  rural  delivery  was 
heard  at  Washington,  and  the  actual  routes 
established.  Then  for  the  first  time  the 
nation  began  its  work  of  human  uplift,  as 
applied  to  the  countryside.  Before  the  in- 
ception of  this  work,  the  farmer  was  too  often 
isolated,  cut  oflF  from  the  direct  touch  of  life, 

method  of  instructing  school  children  as  to  the  organization  and 
operations  of  the  postal  service.  These  instructions  should  cover 
such  features  of  the  service  as  the  delivery  of  the  mails,  the  class- 
ification of  mail  matter,  the  registry  and  money-order  systems, 
and  particularly  the  proper  addressing  of  letters  and  the  impor- 
tance of  placing  return  cards  on  envelopes.  Postmasters  should 
arrange,  if  possible,  to  deliver  personal  talks  to  the  pupils  on 
these  subjects  and  should  give  teachers  access  to  the  Postal  Guide 
and  the  Postal  Laws  and  Regulations  and  render  them  every 
assistance  in  securing  information. 

Numerous  reasons  presented  themselves  showing  the  necessity 
for  a  systematic  education  of  the  public  in  the  ordinary  operations 
and  requirements  of  the  postal  service.  The  thousands  of  pieces 
of  mail  matter  received  daily  in  the  Division  of  Dead  Letters 
present  a  most  vivid  illustration  of  the  necessity  for  having  the 
name  and  address  of  the  sender  appear  on  an  envelope. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         211 

but  the  government  dispelled  this  sense  of 
isolation  by  sending  its  messenger  of  news  daily 
to  4,000,000  homes.  The  growth  of  the  rural 
service  has  been  remarkable,  for  starting  in 
1897  with  eighty-three  carriers  at  an  expense 
of  $15,000,  it  has  grown  to  a  service  including 
40,000  carriers,  who  carry  mail  over  nearly  a 
million  miles  of  road,  at  a  cost  of  $35,000,000. 
This  service  is  conducted  at  an  annual  loss, 
yet  in  view  of  the  patronage  of  18,000,000 
people,  the  enrichment  of  life  counts  for  more 
than  the  nation's  loss  in  dollars  and  cents. 
Loss  there  is,  but  in  order  that  this  material 
loss  may  be  converted  into  income,  the  post- 
master-general is  pleading  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  local  parcels  post,  limited  to  the 
rural  routes,  by  means  of  which  an  income  of 
$15,000,000  per  year  would  be  earned.* 

The  carrying  of  parcels  through  the  post 
office  is  not  a  new  thing,  for  it  has  long  been 

♦The  Postal  Department  issues  excellent  post  route  and  rural 
delivery  maps.  Many  interests  outside  of  the  postal  service 
including  other  branches  of  the  government,  business  firms,  and 
private  individuals,  make  considerable  use  of  the  post-route  maps 
and  the  rural-delivery  maps.  These  maps  are  furnished  under  the 
statutory  provision  that  authorizes  the  sale  of  copies  at  the  cost  of 
printing  and  ten  per  cent,  thereof  added,  the  proceeds  of  such 
sales  to  be  used  as  a  further  appropriation  for  the  preparation 
and  publication  of  the  maps. 


212       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

in  successful  operation  in  most  European 
countries.  The  size  of  the  parcel  which  can 
be  sent  is  indicated  by  the  limit  of  weights, 
allowed  in  the  following  countries : 

Pounds  Pounds 

Great  Britain  ...   11     New  Zealand 11 

Germany 110    Austria 110 

France    22     Belgium 132 

Italy 11     The  Netherlands  . .   11 

Chile 11     Cuba    11 

The  government  report  shows,  that,  **The 
present  rate  on  the  general  parcel  post  is 
16  cents  a  pound  for  people  in  our  own  country, 
the  limit  of  weight  being  four  pounds,  while 
the  rate  from  the  United  States  to  twenty-nine 
foreign  countries  is  twelve  cents  a  pound  and 
the  limit  of  weight  to  twenty-four  of  these 
countries  is  eleven  pounds.  In  other  words, 
our  own  people  must  pay  four  cents  a  pound 
more  for  the  privilege  of  dispatching  packages 
to  each  other  than  when  destined  to  residents 
of  a  foreign  country.  A  rate  of  twelve  cents 
a  pound  for  packages  forwarded  through  the 
mails  to  post  offices  in  the  United  States  and 
its  possessions,  subject  to  the  same  regula- 
tions as  exist  at  the  present  time,  with  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY      213 

exception  of  increasing  the  weight  limit  to 
eleven  pounds,  has  been  recommended  by 
several  of  the  postmasters-general,  but  as  yet 
it  has  not  been  established  by  Congress." 

The  English  system,  now  twenty -five  years 
old,  will  no  doubt  prove  a  model  for  our  Service 
when  authorized  by  Congress.  ''Great  Brit- 
ain's parcels  post  has  become  one  of  the  most 
important  and  highly  appreciated  of  the 
postal  features.  Its  growth  has  been  con- 
tinuous and  phenomenal,  and  its  scope  has 
frequently  been  broadened.  There  was  an 
early  clamor  for  an  agricultural  parcels  post. 
The  owners  of  small  farms  in  remote  localities 
wanted  it.  The  growers  of  spring  flowers  in 
Kerry,  said  it  would  enable  them  to  compete 
with  the  south  of  France  and  the  Scilly  Isles. 
Eventually  the  agricultural  parcels  post  was 
authorized  and  also  spacious  dimensions  for 
packages.  Flower-growers  can  now  send  full 
length  orchid  spikes  and  long  stemmed  roses 
by  post,  where  formerly  only  simple  blooms 
were  admissible.  The  produce  of  the  cultur- 
ists  goes  forward  to  London  and  other  big 
English  cities  in  tremendous  volume.  Fresh 
fish,  dispatched  from  seaport  towns  to  the 


214      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

large  hotels,  are  delivered  with  celerity.  Meats, 
cheese,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  freshly  laid 
eggs  in  mail  packages  under  the  eleven  pound 
limit  form  a  very  considerable  factor  in  the 
commerce  of  the  kingdom. 

"The  big  retail  stores  of  London  avail  them- 
selves extensively  of  the  parcels  service  for 
delivery  of  goods.  The  rates,  ranging  from 
six  to  twenty-two  cents,  are  not  prohibitive. 
In  many  cases  the  government  service  is 
cheaper  and  quicker.  Laundries  return  wash- 
ing by  parcels  post.  In  Germany,  where  the 
rates  are  even  cheaper,  lads  away  at  school 
send  their  soiled  linen  home  by  mail  to  be 
washed,  and  it  is  returned  to  them  by  the 
same  conveyance. 

"Many  curiosities,  as  well  as  staple  articles 
of  trade  and  foodstuffs,  are  carried  in  British 
parcels.  A  live  baby,  it  is  said,  was  posted 
in  London  not  long  ago  and  promptly  delivered 
at  its  destination." 

In  pleading  for  his  pet  measure,  the  post- 
master-general claims  that  an  extension  of 
parcels  posts  in  the  United  States  would  be 
enormously  facilitated,  by  the  prevalence  of 
telephones.     Farmers  and  culturists  now  have 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         215 

them  the  country  over.  Telephone  wires 
have  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  rural  free 
delivery  wagon.  The  postage  is  now  too 
expensive  and  the  limit  of  the  package  too 
small ;  but  instead  of  a  four  pound  package  for 
sixteen  cents,  let  there  be  an  eleven  pound 
package  for  twenty-five  cents  and  the  rural 
routes  will  do  a  rushing  business.  Rural 
patrons  will  telephone  to  town  for  many  of 
the  things  they  want — for  hardware,  groceries, 
and  dry  goods — and  in  turn  will  be  mailing 
to  town,  butter,  cheese,  eggs,  and  vegetables. 
If  this  parcels  post  is  so  useful  and  essential 
to  the  enrichment  of  the  life  of  the  people, 
then  why  does  not  Congress  order  its  estab- 
lishment? Postmaster-General  Wanamaker, 
who  first  urged  the  establishment  of  the  parcels 
post,  summed  up  the  situation  epigramatically 
in  his  one  hundred  reasons  for  and  only  four 
reasons  against  it;  those  four  being  the 
express  companies.  Permission  to  carry 
articles  above  four  pounds  weight  at  their 
own  rate  has  meant  millions  of  dollars  to  these 
companies.  Inasmuch  as  there  is  a  lobby  at 
Washington,  the  people  are  not  as  yet  bene- 
fited by  the  parcels  post.     But  if  the  parcels 


«16       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

post  cannot  be  universally  established,  why 
not  at  least  establish  it  in  the  rural  communi- 
ties. This  was  the  thought  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  in  his  message,  communi- 
cated to  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  session  of  the  Sixtieth 
Congress. 

"In  my  last  annual  message,  I  commended 
the  postmaster-generars  recommendation  for 
an  extension  of  the  parcels  post  on  the  rural 
routes.     The  establishment  of  a  local  parcels 
post  on  rural  routes  would  be  to  the  mutual 
benefit  of  the  farmer  and  the  country  store- 
keeper, and  it  is  desirable  that  the  routes, 
serving  more  than  18,000,000  people,  should 
be  utilized  to  the  fullest  practicable  extent. 
An  amendment  was  proposed  in  the  senate  at 
the  last  session,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  post- 
master-general, providing  that,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascertaining  the  practicability  of  estab- 
lishing a  special  local  parcels  post  system  on 
the  rural  routes  throughout  the  United  States, 
the     postmaster-general    be   authorized    and 
directed' to  experiment  and  report  to  the  Con- 
gress the  result  of  such  experiment  by  estab- 
lishing a  special  local  parcels  post  system  on 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       217 

rural  delivery  routes  in  not  to  exceed  four 
counties  in  the  United  States  for  packages  of 
fourth-class  matter  originating  on  a  rural 
route  or  at  the  distributing  post  office  for  de- 
livery by  rural  carriers.  It  would  seem  only 
proper  that  such  an  experiment  should  be  tried 
in  order  to  demonstrate  the  practicability  of 
the  proposition,  especially  as  the  postmaster- 
general  estimates  that  the  revenue  derived 
from  the  operation  of  such  a  system  on  all  the 
rural  routes  would  amount  to  many  million 
dollars." 

The  postmaster-general  further  urges  that 
this  system  be  at  once  put  into  use,  for  while 
adding  appreciably  to  the  postal  revenues,  it 
will  also  directly  and  vitally  benefit  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  within  reach  of  a  rural  route. 
The  countryman  would  have  the  necessities 
of  life  delivered  at  his  gate  at  an  average  cost 
of  two  cents  a  pound,  and  consumption  there- 
by would  be  facilitated  and  increased,  aug- 
menting the  trade  of  thousands  of  country 
merchants.  Every  component  part  of  our 
commercial  system  would  feel  the  effects  of  an 
increased  prosperity.  It  would  inevitably 
tend  toward  the  improvement  of  the  roads. 


218         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Better  roads  and  improved  postal  facilities 
in  the  rural  districts,  would  result  in  increased 
values  of  farm  lands.  The  rural  service  as 
now  organized  has  accomplished  something  in 
this  direction;  its  enlargement  will  add  to  the 
good  attained. 

Sometimes  a  vision  is  better  than  argument. 
In  December,  1907,  The  Outlook  published  an 
article  by  James  L.  Cowles,  purporting  to  be  a 
statement  made  to  a  delegation  from  the 
Chinese  government  in  1912,  showing  how 
the  United  States  government  manages  the 
entire  business  of  public  transportation  and 
transmission  within  our  National  Territory. 
Speaking  of  the  actual  condition  in  1912,  he 
says : 

"The  United  States  rural  mail  service  now 
covers  all  the  local  traflSc  within  a  rural  route, 
and  provides  for  a  regular  interchange  of 
persons,  produce,  and  ordinary  mail  matter, 
morning  and  afternoon,  between  the  different 
routes  and  the  outside  world.  The  new  serv- 
ice furnishes  organized  transport  facilities 
for  the  education  of  the  children  and  for  the 
occupation  and  recreation  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation outside  their  homes. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       219 

"The  national  government  guarantees  the 
dweller  in  the  remotest  cabin  on  a  rural  route 
that,  up  to  the  limits  of  the  general  postal 
service,  he  shall  be  on  a  par  as  to  the  cost  of 
the  transportation  of  his  supplies  and  his 
produce  with  the  biggest  corporation  in  our 
greatest  metropolis;  as  to  his  local  business, 
the  government  provides  him  with  the  best 
possible  machinery  for  the  transport  of  him- 
self, his  family,  his  supplies,  and  his  produce, 
to  and  fro,  within  the  limits  of  his  rural  route, 
at  a  cost  so  low  as  to  stimulate  him  to  the 
uttermost  use  of  his  powers.  Under  this 
stimulus  the  special  characteristics  which 
differentiate  men  and  places  from  one  another 
are  rapidly  discovering  themselves,  and  now 
industries  are  in  process  of  creation  on  our 
rural  routes  that  promise  to  be  exceedingly 
profitable  to  the  whole  country.  Where, 
under  the  old  conditions,  there  was  hopeless 
stagnation,  there  is  now  joyous,  vigorous  life. 
The  service  pays  its  way,  and  at  the  same  time 
adds  hundreds  of  millions  a  year  to  the  wealth 
of  the  rural  public. 

**0n  the  average  twenty -four  mile  route 
there  were  originally  but  125  families,  about 


220       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

600  persons.  The  population,  however,  is 
rapidly  increasing.  The  actual  cost  to  the 
average  rural  family  is  considerably  less  than 
sixteen  cents  per  day. 

"No  trip  of  a  person  or  a  parcel  is  over 
twelve  miles;  the  trip  of  a  child  to  a  primary 
school  is  not  over  three  miles;  to  a  graded 
school  not  over  six  miles. 

"Every  family  has  its  telephone,  and  goods 
ordered  from  a  city  two  hundred  miles  away 
of  an  afternoon  are  delivered  the  next  day, 
in  some  cases  by  the  morning  delivery.  So 
too,  milk,  butter,  eggs,  chickens,  squabs,  etc., 
ordered  by  a  city  family  or  store  two  hundred 
miles  away  from  a  rural  family  of  a  morning, 
are  delivered  before  noon  the  next  day;  for 
we  have  a  city  postal  service,  the  counterpart 
of  the  rural  service." 

While  this  is  but  the  vision  of  a  dreamer,  who 
will  say  that  it  is  not  well  within  the  range  of 
possibility.^ 

Another  movement  toward  bringing  the 
post  office  up  to  its  highest  efficiency  is  that 
for  the  establishment  of  postal  savings  banks 
or  depositories  in  connection  with  post  offices. 

The  following  facts  from  a  report  of  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        221 

postmaster-general,  show  that  the  Department 
desires  the  estabhshment  of  these  banks  for 
the  good  of  all  the  people.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated, he  says,  that  altogether  fully  half  a 
billion  dollars  which  is  not  today  placed  in  any 
bank,  due  to  want  of  opportunity  or  lack  of 
confidence,  might  be  brought  back  into  cir- 
culation through  the  agency  of  the  postal 
savings  banks. 

In  Japan  the  total  amount  of  deposits  in 
postal  savings  banks  is  about  $46,000,000,  an 
average  of  $5.77  to  each  depositor.  This 
money  would  not  in  all  probability  have  found 
its  way  into  the  channels  of  trade  but  for  the 
establishment  of  such  banks. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  demand  for  postal  sav- 
ings banks,  we  have  reports  from  postmasters 
that  they  have  been  compelled  to  refuse  to 
accept  deposits  offered  by  foreigners  for  safe- 
keeping, and  also  that  our  own  people  have 
bought  postal  money  orders  during  the  last 
year,  payable  to  themselves  to  the  extent  of 
$8,104,447,  on  which  amount  fees  of  $25,000 
were  paid. 

A  bill  was  recently  passed  by  Congress 
establishing  postal  savings  banks  in  the  United 


222       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

States.  Although  the  amendments  will  lessen 
the  efficiency  of  the  original  bill  yet  the  friends 
of  this  movement  regard  its  passage  as  a  very 
great  victory. 

The  postmaster-general  urged  the  adoption 
of  this  bill  because  he  believed  that  postal 
savings  banks  would  foster  thrift  and  increase 
the  habit  of  saving  in  many  states  and  locali- 
ties where  opportunities  for  depositing  savings 
do  not  now  exist,  and  would  in  the  end  serve 
as  feeders  to  the  regular  stock  and  mutual 
savings  banks,  where  greater  returns  would  be 
received.  Thus  they  would  be  a  real  benefit 
not  only  to  the  people,  but  also  to  existing 
financial  institutions.  Practically  all  the  lead- 
ing nations  have  postal  savings  banks  in  suc- 
cessful operation.  No  one  can  justly  say  they 
are  not  needed  in  the  United  States,  with  its 
vast  sections  unequipped  with  facilities  for 
the  deposit  of  savings,  while  the  experience  of 
Canada  gives  reason  for  belief  that  they  can  be 
managed  successfully  in  the  United  States. 

This  bill  was  fought  in  Congress  by  the 
banking  interests  of  the  country,  but  the  suc- 
cess of  the  postal  savings  banks  in  Great 
Britain  and  elsewhere  answers  the  objections 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         223 

made  by  the  special  advocates  of  the  present 
system.  These  banks  have  exerted  a  wonder- 
ful influence  in  promoting  thrift  and  saving  on 
the  part  of  the  poor.  A  writer  in  describing 
the  postal  banks  of  England,  writes : 

"Englishmen  who  in  the  old  time  were  in  the 
habit  of  spending  a  goodly  portion  of  their 
earnings  at  the  public  house  of  a  Saturday 
night,  have  in  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
instances  been  induced  to  set  aside  part  of 
their  earnings  for  deposit  in  the  government 
savings  banks.  Soon  they  had  accumulated 
quite  a  little  nest-egg,  and  were  then  encour- 
aged to  put  away  more  and  more,  and  often 
all  the  money  that  formerly  had  been  spent 
in  the  public-house  found  its  way  into  the 
government  savings  banks.  Children  were 
led  to  deposit  their  little  money,  instead  of 
spending  it  as  before  on  candy,  etc.  So  in 
various  ways  England  became  a  nation  of 
depositors;  thrift  was  encouraged  and  hope 
fed;  for  the  family  which  had  a  few  govern- 
ment consols  to  its  credit  and  the  prescribed 
limit  in  cash  in  the  government  depository, 
had  a  great  load  lifted  from  its  heart.  The 
former  ever-present  dread  of  sudden  sickness. 


224       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

death  and  the  potter's  field  has  been  lifted  in 
the  case  of  a  vast  army  of  Englishmen,  who 
under  no  circumstances  would  have  deposited 
their  money  in  private  institutions." 

In  a  prospectus  issued  by  the  government 
for  the  use  of  the  Filipino,  it  is  claimed  that 
in  a  country  like  the  Philippine  Islands  it 
would  be  very  difficult  and  costly  to  provide  a 
separate,  suitable,  and  convenient  place  in 
which  savings  could  be  deposited  by  the 
people  generally.  For  this  reason  the  govern- 
ment has  provided  for  placing  savings  banks 
in  the  most  widely  distributed  offices  in  the 
islands — namely,  the  post  offices,  and  the 
banks  are  therefore  known  as  postal  savings 
banks.  These  banks  have  been  established 
in  the  provincial  capitols  and  will  be  extended 
to  other  post  offices  as  rapidly  as  seems  de- 
sirable. In  this  way  the  largest  number  of 
people  can  be  reached  with  the  least  expense. 

The  government  of  the  Philippine  Islands 
guarantees  to  return  to  the  depositor  all  sums 
of  money  placed  in  the  postal  savings  banks  in 
accordance  with  the  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  guidance  of  depositors,  together  with 
interest  thereon  at  the  rate  of  two  and  one- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       225 

half  per  cent,  per  annum  as  provided  by  law. 
There  is  absolutely  no  danger  of  loss  as  there 
sometimes  is  in  the  case  of  private  institutions. 
The  government  advises  the  Filipinos  that  they 
can  deposit  their  savings,  be  they  large  or 
small,  in  these  savings  banks  with  the  absolute 
assurance  of  getting  them  again  when  they  are 
needed.  It  will  be  no  longer  necessary  to 
hide  their  money  in  the  ground  or  about  the 
house  or  place  it  in  the  hands  of  a  friend  for 
safe-keeping.  There  is  great  danger  of  loss  in 
trying  to  keep  money  in  any  of  these  ways, 
but  there  is  not  the  least  danger  of  loss  if  they 
place  it  in  the  postal  savings  bank.  Moreover, 
money  hidden  away  for  safe-keeping  yields 
no  income,  while  money  laid  away  in  the 
postal  savings  bank  is  working  for  them  night 
and  day  at  the  rate  of  two  and  one-half  per 
cent,  per  annum. 

The  reasons  given  why  the  Filipinos  should 
save  their  money  and  place  it  in  the  postal 
banks  might  well  be  applied  at  home  were  the 
opportunity  for  saving  given  to  the  poor  people 
of  the  mainland,  as  it  is  given  to  the  islanders. 
If  a  man  consumes  all  his  earnings,  says  our 
great  nation,  it  will  be  impossible  for  him  ever 


226       THE  BETTER   COUNTRY 

to  rise  above  his  present  station  in  life.  Not 
only  is  this  true  but  in  times  of  adversity  he 
will  have  no  means  of  preventing  a  fall  to  a 
still  lower  level,  so  that  a  failure  to  save  in- 
evitably leads  a  person  on  the  downward  road 
toward  destitution,  want,  and  suffering. 

The  first  penny  saved,  however,  is  a  step 
toward  better  things.  It  means  that  the 
consumption  of  something  useless  or  unneces- 
sary has  been  abandoned  and  the  money 
saved  for  the  purpose  of  buying  something 
necessary  in  the  future.  Man  has  been  said  to 
be  but  a  "bundle  of  wants."  Success  in  life 
consists  in  subordinating  the  lower  of  these 
wants  to  the  higher. 

Every  person  should  have  some  definite 
idea  about  his  own  future,  should  know  what 
he  wants  to  make  of  himself,  and  should  make 
the  expenditure  of  his  earnings  contribute 
directly  to  the  attainment  of  that  end  rather 
than  let  it  become  a  mere  unorganized  drib- 
bling away  of  mone3^  The  greatest  tempta- 
tion to  the  careless  expenditure  of  money  lies 
in  the  satisfaction  of  the  wants  of  the  moment 
which  are  too  often  the  result  of  our  impulsive 
and  emotional  nature,  and  as  a  general  thing 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       227 

unessential  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  higher 
purpose,  being  in  fact  often  debasing  in  their 
nature.  The  curbing  of  such  wants  gives 
courage  and  strength  to  character,  lends 
dignity  and  self-respect  to  one's  life,  as  well  as 
results  in  the  saving  of  money  with  which  one 
can  in  the  future  take  advantage  of  those 
opportunities  which  so  often  present  them- 
selves at  every  man's  door.  By  such  advice 
as  this,  the  government  is  seeking  to  encourage 
thrift  among  the  Filipinos. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  deposit  of  small 
savings  there  are  issued  by  the  Bureau  of 
Posts,  postal  savings  bank  stamps  in  denomi- 
nations of  five,  ten,  and  twenty  centavos. 
These  stamps  will  be  sold  at  every  postal 
savings  bank  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 

Postal  savings  bank  stamps,  when  purchased 
are  to  be  pasted  on  cards  which  will  be  sup- 
plied free  to  those  buying  stamps.  Five 
centavo  stamps  must  be  placed  on  cards 
arranged  with  twenty  blank  spaces,  ten  cen- 
tavo stamps  on  cards  with  ten  blank  spaces, 
and  twenty  centavo  stamps  on  cards  with  five 
blank  spaces. 

When  the  blank  spaces  on  a  card  are  pasted 


228       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

full  with  appropriate  stamps,  the  card  may  be 
deposited  at  any  postal  savings  bank  as  though 
it  were  a  Philippine  dollar. 

Since  the  occupation  of  the  islands,  the 
government  has  constructed,  maintained,  and 
successfully  operated  cable  telegraph  lines 
connecting  all  of  the  principal  places  and 
islands. 

If  the  government  of  the  United  States  can 
successfully  own  and  operate  public  utilities 
in  the  insular  possessions,  why  does  it  not  do 
the  same  thing  in  the  States  where  the  need  is 
even  greater.^  Telegraph  and  postal  banks  in 
the  Philippines,  railroad  and  steamship  lines 
on  the  Isthmus,  are  but  so  many  reasons  why 
public  utilities  should  be  operated  in  the 
interest  of  all  the  people,  rather  than  for  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  few.  Our  Insular  pos- 
sessions may  prove  to  be  fine  experiment 
stations  in  sociology. 

That  our  government  is  in  social  service  is 
illustrated  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  in  the 
care  which  they  take  for  the  health  and  com- 
fort of  all  the  laborers.  Thousands  of  bright, 
educated  young  men  have  taken  positions  on 
the  Isthmus  and  their  lives  would  have  been 


O 


^y         ^ 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       ^29 

desolate  and  the  temptations  great  had  not  the 
nation  given  attention  to  the  social  side  of  the 
work.  The  description  of  the  government 
club  house  is  of  interest. 

To  add  to  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  the 
men  employed  by  the  United  States  govern- 
ment in  the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
there  have  been  erected,  equipped  and  placed 
under  the  management  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  four  magnificent  com- 
mission club  houses.  These  are  located  at 
Cristobal,  Gorgona,  Empire  and  Culebra. 

These  club  houses  were  erected  by  the 
government,  for  the  use  of  all  white,  gold 
employees,  and  for  non-employees  upon  elec- 
tion to  membership.  The  buildings  are  uni- 
form in  size  and  are  described  as  containing  a 
reception  lobby  with  library,  secretary's  ofiice, 
soda  fountain,  phonograph  and  easy  chairs. 
A  billiard  and  pool  room  with  five  tables,  good 
light  and  ventilation,  enthusiastic  players, 
and  first-class  equipment  give  continuous 
popularity.  A  reading  room  with  a  reference 
library  and  a  hundred  leading  magazines  and 
newspapers  selected  to  satisfy  the  taste  of  all 
classes  of  readers  from  all  parts  of  the  States, 


230       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

makes  life  seem  more  home-like  to  those  who 
are  far  from  friends  and  former  associates. 
In  the  rear  of  the  main  building,  connected  by 
wide  verandas,  are  the  bowling  alleys.  Here 
men  can  bowl  to  their  heart's  content  on  alleys 
seldom  excelled  in  the  States.  In  this  annex 
are  found  shower  baths  and  lavatories.  The 
second  floor  of  the  main  building  provides  a 
committee  room,  small  game  room  and  a 
large  hall  used  for  local  and  imported  enter- 
tainments, Sunday  meetings,  and  social  func- 
tions, given  both  by  association  members  and 
outside  organizations.  A  stereopticon,  moving 
picture  machine  and  piano  are  features  of  the 
equipment.  This  hall  is  used  also  for  the 
regular  gymnasium  work,  indoor  athletic  meets 
and  such  games  as  basket,  volley  and  indoor 
base  ball.  The  library  in  each  club  house  con- 
tains about  six  hundred  volumes,  carefully 
selected,  chiefly  of  fiction,  history,  travel, 
science,  poetry  and  biography.  Some  of  the 
latest  and  best  books  are  being  added  to  the 
library  each  month. 

*Authority   also   has   been   given   by   the 
Panama  Commission  to  construct  a  number  of 

*Summarized  from  the  report  of  the  Panama  CommiBsion. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       231 

suitable  buildings  to  accommodate  properly 
those  who  wish  to  attend  religious  services. 
Where  necessity  seems  to  require,  the  erection 
of  two  storied  buildings  is  contemplated;  the 
upper  floors  to  be  fitted  up  as  lodge  rooms  for 
orders  and  societies  already  existing  or  which 
may  later  be  formed  among  the  employees, 
while  the  first  floors  will  be  used  for  religious 
purposes.  The  Commission  maintains  a  corps 
of  chaplains  whose  duties  consist  in  holding 
religious  services  at  the  various  towns  in  the 
Canal  Zone,  making  daily  visits  to  Commission 
hospitals,  and  performing  such  other  duties 
connected  with  their  calling  as  may  be  re- 
quested. Practically  every  religious  denomi- 
nation is  now  represented  on  the  Isthmus  by 
these  chaplains. 

A  university  club  has  been  organized  in  the 
city  of  Panama,  which  provides  suitable  table 
board  and  assembly  rooms  for  its  members, 
while  in  addition  to  the  recreation  halls  and 
university  club,  the  employees  themselves 
have  established  clubs  of  various  kinds,  fra- 
ternal orders,  and  athletic  associations,  in 
various  places  along  the  line  of  the  canal. 
There  have  also  been  established  a  number  of 


232       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

women's  clubs  in  the  various  towns  along  the 
canal  route. 

In  its  bearing  on  the  enrichment  of  life,  the 
good  roads  movement  is  equal  in  importance  to 
the  conservation  of  national  resources,  recla- 
mation of  arid  lands,  and  the  national  water- 
ways. Not  until  recently  did  the  general 
public  awaken  to  the  fact  that  the  common 
roads  of  a  country  were  a  disgrace,  and  a 
hindrance  to  civilization.  Like  their  ancestors 
the  people  were  willing  to  drag  through  mud 
and  sand  and  dust  without  thought  that  there 
was  an  alternative. 

The  rapid  settlement  of  the  country  in 
widely  scattered  communities  made  road  build- 
ing in  the  new  west  a  heavy  burden,  so  that  the 
people  welcomed  the  advent  of  the  railroad  as 
it  lessened  the  need  for  common  highways. 
The  demand  for  better  roads  came  not  from 
the  farmer  and  the  country  merchant  who 
suffered  most,  but  from  a  new  class  of  travelers 
on  the  king's  highway.  The  bicycle  rider,  the 
automobile  owner,  and  the  driver  on  the  rural 
delivery  route,  these  woke  up  and  took  notice. 
Decades  ago,  the  great  Sumner  in  the  United 
States  Senate  declared  that  the  schoolmaster 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       233 

and  good  roads  were  the  most  important 
agencies  in  the  advancement  of  civiHzation. 
This  must  have  been  the  faith  of  the  fathers  of 
the  nation  also,  for  they  encouraged  the  build- 
ing of  the  little  red  schoolhouse  at  every 
crossroads,  and  as  early  as  1802  Congress  gave 
attention  to  road  building  by  adding  to  the  bill 
admitting  Ohio  to  the  Union,  a  provision  set- 
ting aside  five  per  cent  of  the  net  proceeds 
from  the  sale  of  public  lands  in  that  state  for 
building  roads  from  the  navigable  waters  of 
the  Atlantic  coast  to  and  through  the  State 
of  Ohio,  two  per  cent  to  be  available  for  roads 
without  the  state  and  three  per  cent  for  those 
within.  "The  first  expenditure  from  this 
fund  was  made  in  1806,  when  the  construction 
of  the  so-called  Cumberland  road  was  begun. 
^Subsequent  appropriations  swelled  the 
amount  expended  upon  this  famous  road  to 
over  seven  millions  of  dollars.  Starting  at 
Cumberland,  Maryland,  it  ran  westerly  over 
the  AUeghanies,  across  the  Ohio  River  at 
Wheeling,  and  on  through  the  states  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,   and   Illinois   nearly   to   St.   Louis. 

*From  report  of  James  W.  Abbott  of  the  Office  of  Public  Roads 
Inquiry. 


234       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

It  was  constructed  in  the  most  substantial 
manner,  in  accordance  with  the  highest  Euro- 
pean standards  of  that  time,  and  w  as  the  best 
road  of  such  length  ever  built  in  a  direct  line 
between  two  points  anywhere  in  the  world." 

Congress  established  similar  funds  from  the 
sales  of  public  lands  in  Louisiana,  Indiana, 
Mississippi,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Missouri,  and 
Iowa.  Besides  the  Cumberland  road,  or 
"National  Pike,"  as  it  was  often  called.  Con- 
gress planned  for  twelve  other  great  national 
highways,  which  were  laid  out  and  partially 
built  in  the  southern  and  western  states  and 
territories.  These  various  roads  were  de- 
signed to  be  the  arteries  of  a  fairly  complete 
system  of  intercommunication,  in  the  regions 
which  they  traversed,  according  to  the  ge- 
ography of  those  days. 

The  great  financial  panic  of  1837  compelled 
a  restriction  in  government  expenditure,  and 
for  sixteen  years  thereafter  few  appropriations 
were  made  for  road  construction.  The  policy 
was  resumed  in  1854,  and  up  to  the  beginning 
of  the  Civil  War  further  sums,  aggregating 
about  $1,600,000  were  thus  expended.  By 
this  time  the  railroad  had  effectually  displaced 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       235 

the  common  highway  in  public  attention,  and 
for  more  than  forty  years  the  government 
paid  no  attention  to  the  construction  of  roads. 
It  was  the  bicycle  which  caused  the  revival 
of  interest  in  good  highways  for  the  nation. 
The  League  of  American  Wheelmen  under  the 
initials  of  L.  A.  W.  will  long  be  remembered 
as    initiators    of    this    splendid    movement. 
Through    their     paper.   Good    Roads,  a   na- 
tional   convention  was    called    to  meet    in 
Chicago,  1892,  at  which  time  the  National 
League  for  good  roads   was  formed.    This 
organization  succeeded  in  inducing  Congress 
in  the  following  year  to  establish  the  office  of 
Public  Roads  Inquiries,  as  a  branch  of  the 
Agricultural  Department.     The  act  made  it 
possible  for  the  secretary  to  make  inquiries  re- 
garding the   systems   of   road   management 
throughout  the  United  States,  to  make  in- 
vestigations regarding  the  best  methods  of 
road-making,  to  prepare  publications  on  this 
subject  suitable  for  distribution,  and  it  also 
enabled  him  to  assist  the  Agricultural  colleges 
and    experiment   stations    in    disseminating 
information  on  this  subject. 

Through  this  medium,  now  known  as  the 


236       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Office  of  Public  Roads,  a  road  census  of  the 
world  is  now  being  taken.  This  aims  to 
gather  all  the  information  of  highways  that 
the  people  of  the  world  possess.  The  search 
will  extend  to  every  country  and  island, 
leaving  no  knowledge  unfound  concerning 
the  building  and  maintaining  the  world's 
highways.  Careful  men  will  gather  all  books, 
maps  and  descriptions  obtainable  and  send 
them  to  Washington.  The  director  is  able  to 
secure  through  the  Department  of  State,  the 
services  of  all  consuls  and  consular  agents  in 
gathering  this  information.  This  army  of 
helpers  will  be  augumented  by  2,500  road 
correspondents,  representing  nearly  every 
county  in  the  United  States.  Such  a  census 
will  be  of  great  value  to  all  interested  in  good 
roads. 

Director  Page  of  the  Public  Roads  office  and 
the  national  forester  have  arranged  to  work 
together  in  the  interest  of  the  Forest  Service. 
This  agreement  provides  for  the  planning  and 
laying  out  of  a  marvelous  system  of  roads  and 
trails  through  the  forests,  up  and  down  the 
sides  of  mountains,  and  along  the  very  crests 
and  ridges  of  the  great  western  hills.     The 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       237 

Office  of  Good  Roads  is  co-operating  closely 
with  the  Reclamation  Bureau  in  determining 
the  character  of  the  roads  of  the  "farm  unit 
cities"  under  the  great  reservoirs,  that  they 
may  not  only  be  good  roads  but  as  long-lived 
as  the  roads  of  ancient  Rome. 

The  rural  route  carrier,  when  he  finds  his 
road  so  impassable  that  he  cannot  deliver 
his  letters  with  regularity,  reports  the  fact 
to  the  director  of  Public  Roads.  This  official 
then  sends  instructions  to  the  local  officials 
informing  them  that  on  request  an  expert 
engineer  will  be  detailed  at  government  ex- 
pense to  advise  them  about  the  repair  or 
construction  of  a  proper  road.  He  may,  if 
desired,  direct  the  work  until  the  method  is 
understood  by  the  local  roadmaster. 

The  increasing  use  of  motor  cars  has  not 
only  hastened  the  destruction  of  existing  roads, 
but  it  has  also  increased  the  demand  for  dust- 
free,  mudless  highways.  "The  heavy  rubber- 
tired  automobile  moving  at  a  high  rate  of 
speed  produces  a  partial  vacuum  behind 
each  wheel  which  sucks  up  the  dust  from  the 
road  surface  and  throws  it  into  the  air  to  be 
carried  oflf  by  the  wind.    This  action  soon 


238       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

strips  the  macadam  road  of  all  fine  material, 
the  result  being  that  it  soon  disintegrates." 
Roads  that  have  cost  the  public  millions  of 
dollars  are  now  being  blown  as  dust  into 
adjoining  fields.  Thus  macadam  roads  are 
becoming  almost  as  impassable  as  the  mud 
roads  of  the  back  country.  That  this  is  a 
great  loss  is  shown  by  the  report  which  says 
that  "poor  roads  make  high  freight  rates. 
High  rates  mean  an  added  burden  to  the 
consumer.  The  average  cost  of  hauling  over 
the  2,155,000  miles  of  country  highways  of 
this  country  is  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  mile.  .  . 
For  hauling  over  the  roads  of  France,  Germany 
and  England,  the  cost  ranges  from  seven  cents 
for  the  incomparable  national  routes  of  France 
to  thirteen  for  the  worst  roads  in  England. 
A  generous  average  is  twelve  cents.  The 
difference  is  the  mud,  rut,  and  hill  climbing 
tax  imposed  upon  all  Americans,  but  first 
against  the  farmers."  This  means  a  loss, 
through  bad  roads,  of  a  billion  dollars  a  year, 
enough,  if  saved,  to  meet  the  expense  of  our 
general  government. 

How  is  this  nation  to  secure  roads  equal  to 
the  best  highways  of  the  world  .^     In  the  first 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       239 

place  by  co-operation.  A  writer  in  Appletori's 
Magazine  shows  the  failure  of  the  old  method 
of  "working  out  the  road  tax,"  under  the 
labor  system. 

"It  has  been  estimated  that  the  'labor 
system'  of  caring  for  the  roads  caused  a  waste 
of  $10,000,000,000  during  the  last  century. 
The  work  was  done  under  the  supervision  of 
salaried  officials  chosen  by  the  voters.  These 
men  were  usually  ignorant  of  the  most  ele- 
mentary principles  of  road  building,  and  the 
elections  tended  to  place  the  most  incompetent 
men  in  charge.  The  official  who  compelled 
his  neighbors  to  contribute  the  full  value  of 
their  tax  in  the  form  of  labor,  was  certain  to 
prove  unpopular,  and  in  the  next  election  such 
a  man  would  usually  be  replaced  by  some  rival, 
who  was  willing  to  permit  the  work  to  be  done 
in  a  slovenly  and  inefficient  manner.  Rota- 
tion in  office  prevented  any  road  official  from 
learning  much  about  road  improvement  and 
maintenance,  and  the  most  incompetent  offi- 
cials were  likely  to  remain  longest  in  office. 
Every  taxpayer  tried  to  do  as  little  as  he  could 
on  the  days  when  he  was  working  out  his  tax, 
which  was  measured  in  days  of  work  instead  of 


240         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

in  accomplishment.  Thus  the  *labor  system' 
directly  encouraged  incompetence  and  shirk- 
ing." 

Co-operation  can  be  carried  on  in  four  ways : 
Cities  and  villages  building  their  streets  and 
boulevards  according  to  a  definite  plan; 
model  county  systems;  state  aid  and  super- 
vision ;  and  national  aid  and  instruction. 

According  to  the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture,  the  roads  of  a  county  should  be 
built  according  to  a  pre-determined  and  unified 
system,  based  upon  a  most  careful  investiga- 
tion of  materials,  amount  of  traffic,  revenue 
available,  methods  of  construction  adapted  to 
local  needs,  organization  and  administration, 
and  all  factors  entering  directly  or  indirectly 
into  the  road  work.  A  plan  was  inaugurated 
during  the  past  year  whereby  the  most  com- 
petent engineers  of  the  Office  of  Public  Roads 
were  assigned,  upon  request  of  county  authori- 
ties, to  make  such  an  investigation  and  to 
prepare  for  the  future  use  of  the  county  road 
authorities  an  exhaustive  and  detailed  report 
with  plans,  estimates,  and  recommendations 
indicating  the  location  of  all  materials,  and 
advising  which  should  be  used,  indicating  the 


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THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         Ul 

roads  that  should  be  improved  and  the  method 
and  cost  of  improvement  suggested,  needed 
changes  in  organization  and  in  methods  of 
administration,  and  in  short  affording  a  guide 
for  future  county  road  work.  This  method 
was  carried  out  last  year  in  Los  Angeles 
County,  California,  and  on  the  strength  of 
the  report  of  the  expert,  the  people  voted 
$3,500,000  in  order  to  build  a  most  perfect 
system  of  highways  throughout  the  entire 
county.  State  aid  and  supervision  of  public 
roads  is  gaining  every  year.  New  York  has 
voted  to  spend  $50,000,000  in  ten  years  in 
building  7,500  miles  of  macadam  road.  The 
counties  and  towns  to  spend  an  equal  amount, 
the  town  fifteen  per  cent,  and  the  county 
thirty-five  per  cent.  Pennsylvania  has  au- 
thorized the  expenditure  of  $6,000,000  in  six 
years  with  an  additional  $1,500,000  from 
towns  and  counties.  State  aid,  state  co- 
operation or  supervision  in  construction  of 
good  roads  is  found  in  nineteen  other  states, 
A  writer  in  Collier's  sums  up  the  good  results 
of  this  movement  for  better  roads: 

"To  the  farmer  these  roads  mean  that  he 
can  drive  with  triple  the  load  that  his  horses 


242       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

drew  before,  and  that,  at  any  season  of  the 
year,  under  good  maintenance;  that  he  will 
save  in  wear  and  tear  and  time  two-thirds  the 
cost  of  his  wagon  transportation;  that  he  will 
gain  in  social  comforts,  in  facilities  for  the 
education  of  his  children,  in  ease  of  contact 
with  the  rest  of  the  world  through  free  mail 
delivery,  and  in  other  ways  that  will  enhance 
the  attractiveness  and  opportunities  of  his 
life.  To  the  driver  of  horses  or  automobiles 
for  pleasure  they  will  mean  a  boom  that 
should  add  greatly  to  the  popularity  of  road 
travel  in  the  Empire  State.  Amendments  to 
the  various  laws  relating  to  highways  have 
given  to  the  state  engineer  such  control  over 
the  maintenance  of  the  roads  improved  with 
state  money  that  much  better  results  are 
assured  in  keeping  them  in  condition  than  was 
possible  under  the  old  system  of  go-as-you- 
please,  with  all  authority  in  the  hands  of 
untrained  highway  commissioners  and  road 
overseers." 

There  is  a  strong  movement  toward  national 
aid  for  road  building,  one  suggestion  being 
that  the  nation  spend  $8,000,000  for  three 
years  to  be  divided  among  the  states  according 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       MS 

to  population,  no  state,  county  or  town  receiv- 
ing any  help  except  as  they  contribute  an 
equal  amount,  the  aim  being  not  wholly  to 
build  the  roads,  but  to  stimulate  the  people 
locally  to  build  better  roads.  This  is  a  small 
amount  for  the  nation  to  spend  in  comparison 
with  France,  which  alone  spent  $350,000,000 
in  road  improvement  within  an  area  less  than 
the  size  of  Texas. 

It  is  fortunate  for  this  nation  that  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  inserted  the  clause, 
"to  promote  the  general  welfare,"  thus  making 
it  possible  for  the  nation  to  do  more  of  the 
things  that  are  necessary  for  the  good  of  all 
the  people. 

Our  central  government  is  actually  building 
roads,  on  the  national  reservations,  and  recla- 
mation projects,  and  in  the  parks  and  forests, 
and  it  is  also  teaching  over  one  hundred  com- 
munities in  all  parts  of  the  country  by  giving 
them  a  piece  of  road  as  an  object  lesson. 
Whenever  a  request  is  made,  an  expert  en- 
gineer, foreman  and  machine  operator  are  sent 
from  Washington. 

The  chemists  of  the  Department  make  labo- 
ratory tests  of  material,  and  a  short  piece  of 
road  is  built  in  a  thoroughly  scientific  manner. 


244        THE    BETTER  COUNTRY 

These  object  lesson  roads  serve  to  teach  local 
officers  proper  methods  of  building  and  also 
stimulate  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  good 
roads,  so  that  the  money  needed  for  their 
construction  is  forthcoming  in  the  community. 
More  than  this,  in  order  to  prepare  engineers 
for  county  and  city  work,  the  Department 
accepts  students  for  one  year's  training,  thus 
helping  to  spread  the  nation's  ideals  as  to  good 
roads. 

A  department  of  work  which  has  naturally 
fallen  under  the  federal  administrative  system 
is  that  of  the  weather  bureau.  "The  weather 
for  tomorrow"  is  of  more  than  passing  interest, 
for  on  accurate  forecasts  of  storms  depends  the 
success  or  failure  of  shipping  and  harvest.  It 
is  estimated  that  the  system  of  storm  signals 
on  the  Atlantic  coast  saves  $3,000,000  annually 
in  preventing  wrecks  or  disasters.  The  fore- 
cast of  a  cold  wave  during  one  winter,  it  is 
estimated,  saved  shipping  of  perishable  mer- 
chandise valued  at  nearly  four  million  dollars. 
The  record  of  temperature  through  a  series  of 
years  is  of  great  service  to  those  who  are  con- 
sidering the  planting  of  trees  and  crops,  which 
are  drought  or  cold  resistant. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       245 

The  director  reports  that,  at  the  central 
oflSce  of  the  Weather  Bureau  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  is  kept  a  collection  of  slides,  from  which 
loans  are  made  to  station  officials  when  they 
desire  to  give  illustrated  lectures  of  a  public 
nature.  Many  such  lectures  are  given  to 
teachers  at  summer  institutes,  normal  schools, 
colleges,  or  public  gatherings,  and  have  proved 
very  popular. 

The  health  and  comfort  of  school  children 
demand  constant  consideration,  continues  the 
report  of  the  Weather  Bureau,  and  the  daily 
forecasts  are  carefully  considered  in  school 
administration.  During,  or  on  the  approach 
of,  inclement  weather  it  is  common  for  school 
superintendents  to  consult  the  weather  fore- 
casts and  warnings  or  to  telephone  to  the  local 
office  of  the  Weather  Bureau  for  advice  in 
planning  to  dismiss  the  school  for  the  day  or 
prepare  for  a  double  session.  In  the  larger 
cities  especially  the  schools  are  all  connected 
by  telephone  and  arrangements  can  either  be 
quickly  made  for  a  double  session  upon  the 
advice  of  the  local  forecaster,  or  the  schools 
can  be  dismissed.  In  the  rural  districts  the 
farmers'  telephone  lines  place  the  warnings 


246         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  heavy  snow,  blizzards,  cold  waves,  etc.,  at 
the  disposal  of  the  country  school  quickly  and 
without  expense,  since  the  forecasts  are  in 
most  instances  distributed  free  to  their  pat- 
rons by  the  telephone  companies .  The  j  anitor, 
too,  watches  the  forecasts  closely  so  that  he 
may  not  be  taken  unawares  by  rapid  changes 
in  temperature  and  thus  let  the  rooms  become 
too  cold  or  too  warm  for  the  health  and  com- 
fort of  the  pupils.  He  needs  also  to  take 
account  of  the  conditions  of  rain  or  snow  in 
planning  his  work.  Sometimes  it  becomes 
advisable  to  close  the  schools  entirely  upon 
receipt  of  Weather  Bureau  information.  Thus 
on  the  western  prairies  the  schools  may  be 
closed  when  a  blizzard  is  expected;  in  New 
England  or  elsewhere,  when  heavy  snow  is  on 
the  way;  in  the  far  south,  when  snow  sets  in 
to  continue  until  the  ground  is  covered,  so 
that  the  children  may  join  with  their  parents 
in  frolicking  and  enjoying  to  the  utmost  the 
unusual  pleasure.  In  the  fruit  district  of 
California,  where  thousands  of  tons  of  raisins, 
apricots,  prunes,  etc.,  are  dried  outdoors  in  the 
sun,  the  schools  are  closed  upon  receipt  of  a 
rain  warning,  in  order  that  the  children  may  at 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       £47 

once  be  put  to  work  covering  up  the  trays  of 
fruit  to  prevent  loss. 

Modern  methods  of  teaching  in  the  public 
schools  provide  an  important  place  for  weather 
study  the  local  officials  granting  liberal  use 
of  the  publications  of  the  Weather  Bureau. 
During  the  school  year  a  million  or  more 
children  of  the  public  schools  make  weather 
observations  and  study  the  daily  weather 
maps  and  forecasts. 

In  order  to  ^'promote  the  general  weljare^^ 
President  Roosevelt,  while  in  the  executive 
office,  appointed  a  commission  to  investigate 
country  life,  and  to  learn  what  was  necessary 
to  promote  the  new  social  life  of  the  farm,  that 
in  the  rural  homes  there  might  be  found  the 
comforts  and  luxuries  for  the  lack  of  which  the 
young  people  have  forsaken  the  farm  for  the 
pleasanter  life  of  the  city.  In  his  message,  he 
said: 

**It  is  especially  important  that  whatever 
will  serve  to  prepare  country  children  for  life 
on  the  farm  and  whatever  will  brighten  home 
life  in  the  country  and  make  it  richer  and  more 
attractive  for  mothers,  wives,  and  daughters 
of  farmers  should  be  done  promptly,  thor- 


248       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

oughly,  and  gladly.  There  is  no  more  im- 
portant person,  measured  in  influence  upon 
the  life  of  the  nation,  than  the  farmer's  wife, 
no  more  important  home  than  the  country 
home,  and  it  is  of  national  importance  to  do 
the  best  we  can  for  both . . 

"The  farmers  have  hitherto  had  less  than 
their  full  share  of  public  attention  along  the 
lines  of  business  and  social  life.  There  is  too 
much  belief  among  all  our  people  that  the 
prizes  of  life  lie  away  from  the  farm.  I  am 
therefore  anxious  to  bring  before  the  people 
of  the  United  States  the  question  of  securing 
better  business  and  better  living  on  the  farm, 
whether  by  co-operation  between  farmers  for 
buying,  selling,  and  borrowing,  by  promoting 
social  advantages  and  opportunities  in  the 
country,  or  by  any  other  legitimate  means 
that  will  help  to  make  country  life  more 
gainful,  more  attractive  and  fuller  of  oppor- 
tunities, pleasures,  and  rewards  for  the  men, 
women,  and  children  of  the  farms." 

In  transmitting  the  report  of  the  Country 
Life  Commission  to  Congress,  President  Roose- 
velt recommended  three  methods  for  uplift 
of  the  countryside: 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       249 

"First,  effective  co-operation  among  farmers 
to  put  them  on  a  level  with  the  organized 
interests  with  which  they  do  business. 

"Second,  a  new  kind  of  schools  in  the  coun- 
try, which  shall  teach  the  children  as  much 
outdoors  as  indoors,  and  perhaps  more,  so 
that  they  will  prepare  for  country  life,  and  not 
as  at  present,  mainly  for  life  in  town. 

"Third,  better  means  of  communication, 
including  good  roads  and  a  parcels  post, 
which  the  country  people  are  everywhere  and 
rightly  unanimous  in  demanding." 

While  the  report  of  the  Country  Life  Com- 
mission has  centered  the  thought  of  the 
nation  upon  the  needs  of  the  country  home, 
yet  the  enrichment  of  life  for  the  farmer  has 
been  in  progress  for  many  years.  The  use  of 
water  power  and  electricity  applied  to  ma- 
chinery, saves  drudging  and  gives  time  for 
thought.  Rural  delivery,  telephones,  and 
trolleys  keep  the  farmer  in  close  touch  with  the 
world.  The  consolidated  school  unites  in  one 
the  little  red  school-houses  of  the  sparsely 
settled  regions,  and  the  Union  High  gives  the 
boy  and  girl  a  better  education  than  can  be 


«50       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

obtained  in  the  different  environment  of  the 
city.  Good  roads  make  for  neighborliness. 
Traveling  libraries  and  short  courses  for 
farmers  and  their  wives  bring  culture  and 
refinement  to  otherwise  barren  lives.  The 
farmers'  bulletins,  sent  so  freely  by  the  govern- 
ment to  every  country  home  are  not  alone 
useful  to  the  man  behind  the  plow,  but 
through  them  the  nutrition  experts  teach  the 
woman  in  the  kitchen  the  nutritive  value  of 
all  foods  and  the  method  of  preparation  which 
will  produce  the  greatest  food  values  for  body 
and  brain.  In  fact,  while  this  nation  under 
its  Secretary  of  Agriculture  has  done  much  for 
the  farmer,  it  has  in  no  wise  overlooked  the 
farmer's  wife  or  his  children,  and  yet  rural  life 
must  be  still  further  organized  and  enriched. 
In  order  that  one  part  of  our  nation  may  not 
receive  more  than  another,  has  not  the  time 
come  for  a  benevolent  president  to  appoint  a 
commission  on  the  uplift  of  city  life,  especially 
as  it  applies  to  that  part  of  the  city  where 
economic  injustice  is  met  by  charity  or  the 
prison.'^  Federal  inspection  and  publicity 
might   arouse   a   thoughtless   public   in   the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       251 

demand  voiced  by  Dr.  Devine  for  **sound 
heredity,  protected  childhood,  a  prolonged 
working  age,  freedom  from  preventable  dis- 
ease and  from  professional  crime,  indemnity 
against  the  economic  losses  occasioned  by 
death,  accident,  illness  and  compulsory  idle- 
ness, rational  education,  normal  standards  of 
living,  and  a  social  religion." 

The  signs  of  the  times  point  not  only  to  a 
national  awakening  along  the  lines  of  social 
uplift,  but  also  to  a  determined  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  nation  itself,  in  bringing  about 
better  social  conditions  as  a  prophecy  of  what 
the  government  will  do  when  the  XJnited 
States  Civil  Service  is  increased  by  the  crea- 
tion of  many  more  social  professions.  Notice 
how  the  Retirement  Association  provides  for 
the  care  of  the  employees  in  the  government 
who  might  be  injured  by  accident  or  worn  out 
in  service.  While  the  insurance  benefits  of 
this  mutual  association  go  only  to  members, 
still  the  agitation  which  it  carries  on  for  uni- 
versal pension  will  soon  bring  about  the  enact- 
ment of  an  equitable  law  providing  for 
retirement  of  the  superannuated  and  disabled 


252        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

in  the  service  of  the  government.  This  will 
make  employment  under  the  Civil  Service  far 
more  attractive  than  it  is  today. 

A  great  nation  like  this  cannot  boast  of  its 
greatness  alone  in  terms  of  billions  made  or 
millions  saved,  but  also  in  greater  results  made 
evident  through  the  enrichment  of  the  life 
of  all  of  its  citizens. 


CHAPTER  IX 

In  the  Life  Saving  Business 

The  saving  of  human  life  placed  in  jeopardy 
has  always  won  the  praise  of  lovers  of  their 
fellowmen.  The  world  applauds  a  hero.  The 
story  of  what  our  nation  has  done  in  saving 
life  through  the  heroes  of  the  surf,  the  men  in 
the  Life  Saving  Service,  is  recorded  in  twenty- 
seven  volumes  of  greater  interest  than  any 
fiction,  for  these  records  tell  of  brave  men  who 
through  dark,  stormy  nights  patrol  the  bleak, 
inhospitable  coasts,  ever  alert  for  shipwreck  or 
stranded  mariner. 

It  was  in  1837  that  an  immigrant  bark  went 
ashore  on  Hampstead  Beach,  Long  Island, 
the  residents  of  the  neighborhood  being  able  to 
rescue  but  eight  persons  from  the  crowded 
ship.  Although  this  incident  aroused  intense 
interest  throughout  the  nation,  it  was  not  till 
ten  years  later  that  the  matter  of  life  saving 
was  brought  to  the  attention  of  Congress. 
The  first  appropriation  was  only  $5,000,  but 
as  the  years  went  by  this  amount  was  steadily 
increased,  new  and  better  equipment  was  se- 


254       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

cured,  and  yet  until  the  old  political  spoils 
system  was  overthrown  in  1876,  the  Service 
was  too  often  made  the  dumping  ground  for 
men  appointed  without  merit  by  local  poli- 
ticians. Since  that  date  the  Service  has 
become  really  non-partisan  and  thoroughly 
trained  men  have  been  employed  whose  sole 
work  is  to  save  life.  Mere  figures  as  to  the 
number  of  lives  saved  from  a  frightful  death 
can  never  tell  the  story  of  the  surfmen's  labors 
with  lifeboat  or  breaches-buoy,  for  his  work 
is  not  the  sailing  of  a  pleasure  craft  on  a  sum- 
mer sea,  but  the  pushing  of  a  heavy  boat 
through  breakers,  often  thickly  filled  with 
mush  ice,  in  the  teeth  of  a  gale,  to  reach  an 
ice-coated  ship  pounding  dangerously  upon 
the  rocks.  Scores  of  trips  must  be  taken 
before  the  last  survivor  is  landed  safely  on 
shore.  The  care  of  the  nearly  drowned  calls 
for  as  great  knowledge  and  tenderness,  as  the 
working  of  the  breaches-buoy  and  the  man- 
ning of  the  life  boat  call  for  courage. 

The  government  is  actually  in  the  business 
of  saving  life  and  when  we  consider  the  value 
of  a  human  soul,  we  must  judge  it  to  be  an 
honorable  business.  It  is  well  to  notice  that 
life  saving  is  not  confined  to  one  bureau  of  the 


yiia ,  V 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       255 

government.  Attention  is  now  being  given 
to  the  rescue  of  men  after  the  great  mine 
disasters  and  the  even  more  important  work  of 
safe-guarding  the  mines,  thus  preventing  the 
disastrous  loss  of  life  and  limb.  A  report  by 
the  Geological  Survey  states  that  in  no  coun- 
try in  the  world  are  the  natural  conditions  so 
favorable  for  the  safe  extraction  of  coal  as  in 
the  United  States,  and  that  in  spite  of  this 
fact  the  number  of  lives  lost*  per  one  thousand 

*The  number  of  persons  killed  in  coal  mines  per  1,000  employed 
in  the  United  States,  as  compared  with  the  number  killed  in 
Great  Britain,  Belgium  and  France  according  to  government 
report: 

United  Great 

Year              States  Britain  Belgium             France 

1893  2.53      1.55 

1894  2.48      1.60 

1895  2.67      1.49  1.40 

1896  2.79      1.48  1.16 

1897  2.34      1.34  1.03 

1898  2.59      1.28  1.04 

1899  2.98      1.26  .97 

1900  3.24  1.30  1.05 

1901  3.24      1.36  1.16  1.03 

1902  3.49      1.24  1.07  .96 

1903  3.14      1.27  1.04  .86 

1904  3.38      1.24  .93  .89 

1905  3.53      1.35  .91  .84 

1906  3.40      1.29  ,94 

1907  4.86 

United  States  average  death  rate  for  15  years  is 3.11 

for  every  1,()00  employed. 
Great  Britain's  average  death  rate  for  14  years  is 1 .36 

for  every  1,000  employed. 
Belgium's  average  death  rate  for  12  years  is 1 .06 

for  every  1,000  employed. 
France's  average  death  rate  for  5  years  is .91 

for  every  1,000  employed. 


^56       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

men  employed  is  far  higher  than  in  any  other 
coal-producing  country,  and  further  the  num- 
ber of  lives  lost  per  million  tons  of  coal  pro- 
duced is  exceeded  by  only  one  other  country. 
Unless  energetic  means  are  taken  to  counter- 
act this  prevailing  tendency  not  only  will  the 
death  rate  in  proportion  to  men  employed  and 
tons  produced  increase  as  it  has  done  in  the 
last  few  years,  but  it  will  increase  at  a  much 
more  rapid  rate. 

With  the  depletion  of  the  thicker  and  more 
favorably  mined  seams  of  coal,  thinner  and 
less  regular  seams  must  be  worked.  This 
factor  will  undoubtedly  be  of  the  greatest 
importance  within  a  comparatively  few  years, 
and  the  natural  result  would  be,  to  greatly 
increase  the  death  rate.  The  rising  price  of 
timber  will  have  the  effect  of  decreasing  the 
number  of  wooden  props  used  in  mining,  and 
probably  will  increase  the  chance  of  accidents 
from  falls  of  roof  and  coal.  Another  impor- 
tant factor  in  the  mines  of  the  United  States  is 
to  be  found  in  the  nationality  of  the  miners. 
Most  of  the  men  are  foreign  born,  a  large  pro- 
portion of  them  are  unable  to  understand 
EngUsh  readily,  and  a  still  larger  number  are 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       257 

unable  to  read  or  write  that  language.  Some 
of  them  are  inexperienced  and  do  not  take 
proper  precautions  either  for  their  own  safety, 
or  for  the  safety  of  others.  This  ignorance 
and  neglect  become  a  most  serious  menace 
unless  they  are  restrained  by  carefully  en- 
forced regulations. 

With  the  mining  of  the  smaller  beds  of  coal 
and  the  gradual  development  of  properties 
worked  with  more  difficulty,  mining  conditions 
in  the  United  States  will  more  nearly  assume  a 
position  of  equality  with  those  abroad,  and  a 
great  increase  in  the  number  of  accidents 
must  be  expected  unless  proper  steps  are  taken 
to  remove  the  causes  that  have  brought  about 
the  present  remarkably  high  death  rate  in  the 
coal  mines  of  the  United  States. 

As  a  natural  result  of  President  Roosevelt's 
Conservation  Congresses,  the  thought  is  now 
turned  to  the  conservation  of  American  men. 
Said  Mr.  John  Mitchell,  at  the  Governors* 
Conference: 

"In  our  mad  rush  for  spoils  and  profits  we 
not  only  waste  and  destroy  those  material 
resources  with  which  God  has  so  bountifully 
endowed  us,  but  we  press  forward  in  the  race, 


258       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

sacrificing  unnecessarily  the  lives  and  the 
comfort  of  our  fellow-beings.  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  time  has  come  when  we  should  stop 
for  a  moment  and  think — not  alone  of  those 
inanimate  things  that  make  for  comfort  and 
prosperity,  but  also  of  the  men,  and  the 
women,  and  the  children,  whose  toil  and  de- 
privation have  made  and  will  continue  to 
make  our  country  and  our  people  the  most 
progressive  and  the  most  intelligent  of  all  the 
nations  and  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth." 

Men  have  been  considered  by  employers  of 
labors  as  cheaper  than  machinery  and  less 
attention  has  been  paid  to  the  human  animal 
than  to  the  draft  horse  or  the  mule  in  the  mine. 
The  government  through  the  Technologic 
Branch  is  saying  that  this  waste  of  life  must 
cease.  To  this  end  the  nation  has  set  aside 
$150,000  to  open  and  operate  a  great  experi- 
ment station  on  the  grounds  of  the  arsenal  at 
Pittsburg  where  a  rescue  corps  will  demon- 
strate for  the  instruction  of  mine  workers  how 
it  is  possible  to  penetrate  into  mines  where 
explosions  have  occurred,  despite  the  deadly 
gases  liberated  by  the  explosion,  and  to  bring 
forth  the  men  who  have  been  entombed 
within. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       259 

This  station  is  described  as  having  a  large 
room  fitted  up  so  as  to  represent  the  difficult 
passages  in  a  mine  after  an  explosion.  All 
sorts  of  narrow  holes  are  provided  through 
which  the  rescuers  have  to  wriggle  and 
passages  choked  with  loose  coal  over  which  the 
corps  members  work  their  way.  Dummies 
weighing  two  hundred  pounds  each  are  strewn 
about  and  are  brought  forth  as  rapidly  as 
efficiency  in  the  rescue  work  will  permit. 
Helmets,  very  similar  to  those  used  by  divers, 
into  which  air  is  supplied  from  oxygen  tanks 
are  strapped  upon  the  backs  of  the  men.  The 
men  remain  in  this  airtight  room  filled  with 
deadly  gases  for  periods  of  two  hours  each  and 
work  hard  without  experiencing  any  bad 
effects  from  the  poisonous  atmosphere  about 
them. 

In  actual  work  after  mine  explosions  the 
use  of  the  oxygen  apparatus  carried  by  the 
rescuers  has  made  it  possible  to  administer  air 
to  miners  who  have  been  asphyxiated,  and  to 
remove  them  to  the  outside  before  life  was 
extinct.  The  work  carried  on  at  these  ex- 
periment stations  by  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment is  not  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  a 


860       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

corps  of  trained  rescuers  for  general  service 
in  the  mines,  but  merely  to  teach  the  mine 
owners  and  the  mine  workers  how  they  may 
themselves  organize  an  effective  corps  for  every 
mine  and  thus  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  fatali- 
ties that  have  heretofore  attended  all  explo- 
sions. As  a  result  of  this  government 
experimentation,  four  stations  for  the  train- 
ing of  miners  in  rescue  work  have  been 
established  recently  by  the  big  coal  companies 
and  several  more  are  in  contemplation. 

The  Survey  hopes  not  only  to  be  able  to 
continue  this  good  work,  but  greatly  to  extend 
its  influence.  Speaking  of  the  need  for  future 
work,  the  director  of  the  Branch  urges  that,  the 
testing  of  explosives  purchased  by  the  Isth- 
mian Canal  Commission,  Reclamation  Service, 
etc.,  should  be  continued  without  intermission 
as  a  protection  against  possible  loss  of  life  due 
to  handling  unsafe  explosives,  and  to  protect 
the  government  against  the  purchase  of 
inferior  or  dangerous  material.  Also  that  the 
investigations  within  mines  should  be  con- 
tinued in  order  that  the  condition  and  char- 
acter of  the  workings  in  each  mine  may  be 
definitely  known  from  day  to  day  and  from 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       261 

year  to  year,  so  that  causes  of  disasters  may 
be  more  readily  and  intelligently  ascertained. 

He  further  urges  that  the  establishment  of 
sub-rescue  stations  in  each  of  the  coal  mining 
fields  should  be  pushed  with  vigor  so  that  types 
and  methods  of  use  of  the  various  rescue 
apparatus  may  be  demonstrated  in  all  of  the 
coal  mines,  and  that  the  mine  owners  may  be 
encouraged  to  provide  themselves  with  such 
necessary  modern  adjuncts  to  the  protection 
of  the  lives  of  their  miners.  In  undertaking 
this  experiment  in  life  saving,  the  government 
has  made  a  good  start  in  the  work  of  prevent- 
ing unnecessary  accident  and  death,  yet  it  is 
but  a  beginning. 

After  the  people  have  educated  their  con- 
gressmen and  shown  them  beyond  a  doubt  that 
it  pays  to  save  human  life,  then  perhaps  they 
will  appropriate  not  only  $150,000  for  this 
purpose  but  a  million  and  a  half  annually. 
By  an  expenditure  of  that  amount  they  could 
save  $35,000,000  each  year,  as  certain  of  the 
most  conservative  of  the  Old  World  insurance 
companies  place  a  cash  value  of  $10,000  on  a 
human  being.  If  the  3,500  men  who  lost 
their  lives  in  the  coal  mines  of  this  land  during 


262       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  past  year  could  have  been  saved,  surely 
that  amount  could  be  placed  to  the  credit  of 
the  nation.  Some  day  we  are  going  to  become 
as  enthusiastic  in  the  saving  of  life  as  we  have 
hitherto  been  reckless  in  its  destruction. 

As  prevention  is  always  better  than  cure, 
that  which  makes  commerce  and  industry  safe 
is  of  great  value.  Under  the  head  of  pre- 
vention falls  the  work  of  the  Coast  and  Geo- 
detic Survey  and  that  of  the  Lighthouse 
Board.  The  scope  of  the  Survey  includes  the 
charting  of  the  coasts  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States,  and  also  the  Pacific 
Coast  from  San  Diego  to  Panama.*  Because 
of  this  it  is  possible  for  mariners  to  avoid  all 
rocks  and  shoals  and  bars  and  know  without 
doubt   the   safe   course   into   every   harbor. 

•LAW  PERTAINING  TO  THE  COAST  AND  GEODETIC 
SURVEY. 

(As  modified  by  act  of  February  14, 1903. ) 

The  President  is  authorized  to  cause  a  survey  to  be  taken  of 
the  coasts  of  the  United  States,  in  which  shall  be  designated  the 
islands  and  shoals,  with  the  roads  or  places  of  anchorage,  within 
twenty  leagues  of  any  part  of  the  shores  of  the  United  States; 
and  also  the  respective  courses  and  distances  between  the  princi- 
pal capes  or  headlands,  together  with  such  other  matters  as  he 
may  deem  proper  for  completing  an  accurate  chart  of  every  part 
of  the  coasts. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       263 

Once  found  out  by  the  scientific  work  of  the 
Coast  Survey,  it  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  Light- 
house Board  to  maintain  such  warnings  as  will 
guarantee  safety  to  the  commerce  of  the  sea. 
These  consist  of  lighthouse  and  beacon  lights, 
light  ships,  gas-lighted  buoys,  fog  signals, 
post  lights,  unlighted  day  beacons,  whistling 
buoys,  and  bell  buoys,  to  the  number  of 
nearly  10,000  separate  signals. 

Starting  with  eight  lighthouses  established 
by  the  Maritime  Colonies  and  accepted  by 
the  federal  government  in  1789,  this  nation 
has  marched  to  the  commanding  position  of 
being  in  proportion  to  her  coast  line,  "the 
most  perfectly  protected  country  in  the  world. 
The  enormous  coast  line  of  the  United  States 
and  the  difficult  character  of  her  inland  waters, 
the  great  rivers  and  the  great  lakes,  makes  a 
service  which  demands  every  variety  and  kind 
of  light,  of  buoy,  of  day  beacon,  and  of  noise- 
producing  apparatus.  The  whole  and  main 
idea  of  coast  illumination  is  to  provide  lights 
at  such  intervals  that  the  lights  shall  overlap, 
and  a  ship  be  unable  to  sail  beyond  the  range 
of  one,  along  the  coast,  without  coming  within 
reach  of  another.     That  there  may  be  no 


264       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

dark  spots  in  which  a  ship  may  be  lost  is  the 
whole  end  and  aim  of  the  Lighthouse  Estab- 
lishment as  far  as  the  seacoast  is  concerned."* 

The  world  will  never  know  how  many  ships 
have  been  saved  from  the  rocks  and  how  many 
human  beings  have  escaped  a  watery  grave 
because  of  the  signals  which,  night  and  day, 
give  warning  to  all  mariners,  but  that  un- 
certainty is  true  of  all  preventive  measures,  so 
that  one  actual  rescue  may  be  heralded  more 
widely  than  the  adoption  of  a  measure  which 
may  prevent  a  holocaust. 

The  Steamboat  Inspection  Service  has  much 
to  its  credit  in  preventing  disaster.  As  far 
back  as  1838  Congress  organized  this  Service, 
providing  for  the  better  security  of  the  lives 
of  passengers  on  board  vessels  propelled  in 
whole  or  in  part  by  steam.  In  1871,  the  pro- 
motion of  the  security  of  life  on  such  vessels 

*The  Lighthouse  Board  has  adopted  a  type  of  acetylene  light 
for  the  coast  of  Alaska  and  eleven  gas  lighted  beacons  will  be 
installed  at  points  along  the  "inside  passage"  in  southwestern 
Alaska. 

Each  light  will  burn  without  the  care  of  a  keeper  or  any 
other  attention  for  a  period  of  six  months,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  the  supply  of  gas-producing  material  may  be  replenished 
readily  by  the  visit  of  a  lighthouse  tender  or  other  vessel. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       265 

was  extended  to  the  crews  and  officers  as  well 
as  to  the  passengers.  By  inspection  of  hulls 
and  boilers,  signal  lights,  names  and  numbers, 
by  deciding  on  the  number  of  passengers  to 
be  carried,  and  in  many  other  ways  the  nation 
saves  men  from  possible  disaster  resulting  from 
the  greed  or  ignorance  or  incompetence  of  the 
owners,  pilots,  or  masters  of  all  steamships. 
The  rescue  of  imperiled  lives  is  spectacular 
as  well  as  humane,  whether  by  lifeline  to  a 
ship  pounding  on  the  rocks,  or  by  the  oxygen 
helmet,  saving  the  asphyxiated  miner  from  the 
coal  mine.  Necessary  as  this  may  be,  we  are 
as  a  nation  beginning  to  applaud  that  work 
which  is  now  being  undertaken,  the  object  of 
which  is  the  prevention  of  disease.  Health 
is  a  national  asset,  and  everything  which  aids 
in  preservation  of  health  adds  that  much  to 
the  wealth  and  happiness  of  a  nation.  Em- 
phasizing the  importance  of  life  and  health 
to  a  nation,  the  National  Conservation  Com- 
mission went  on  record  in  saying  that  "at 
every  stage  in  the  growth  of  our  country, 
strong  men  grew  stronger,  through  the  exercise 
of  nation  building,  and  their  intelligence  and 
patriotism   grew   with   their   strength.     The 


266       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

spirit  and  vigor  of  our  people  are  the  chief 
glory  of  the  republic.  Yet,  even  as  we  have 
neglected  our  natural  resources,  so  have  we 
been  thoughtless  of  life  and  health.  Too  long 
have  we  overlooked  that  grandest  of  our 
resources,  human  life.  Natural  resources  are 
of  no  avail  without  men  and  women  to  develop 
them,  and  only  a  strong  and  sound  citizenship 
can  make  a  nation  permanently  great.  We 
cannot  too  soon  enter  on  the  duty  of  conserving 
our  chief  source  of  strength  by  the  prevention 
of  disease  and  the  prolongation  of  life. 

** Waste  reduced  and  resources  saved  are  the 
first  but  not  the  last  object  of  conservation. 
The  natural  resources  have  an  additional 
value  when  their  preservation  adds  to  the 
beauty  and  habitability  of  the  land.  Ours  is  a 
pleasant  land  in  which  to  dwell.  To  increase 
its  beauty  and  augment  its  fitness  cannot  but 
multiply  our  pleasure  in  it  and  strengthen 
the  bonds  of  our  attachment. 

"In  the  conservation  of  all  the  resources  of 
the  country  the  interest  of  the  present  and  all 
future  generations  is  concerned,  and  in  this 
great  work,  involving  the  welfare  of  the 
citizens,  the  family,  the  community,  the  state. 


A&ii4''' 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       267 

and  the  nation,  our  dual  system  of  government, 
state  and  federal,  should  be  brought  into 
harmonious  co-operation  and  collaboration." 
Interest  in  the  preservation  of  health 
is  ever  widening.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century  health  was  an  individual  matter. 
The  family  doctor  was  the  only  health  oflacer 
for  his  limited  circle  of  patients,  and  the  poor 
received  but  little  attention,  but  the  individu- 
alistic treatment  of  disease  proved  as  great  a 
failure  as  individualism  in  industry.  Co- 
operation is  necessary  to  success  in  either 
case.  Health  boards  in  the  larger  cities 
gradually  undertook  the  supervision  of  the 
health  of  the  cities,  especially  as  it  concerned 
prophylactic  measures  and  the  handling  of 
contagious  diseases.  The  existence  of  disease 
is  more  profitable  to  the  physician  than  its 
dissipation,  and  yet  in  general  it  may  be  said 
of  this  profession  that  the  doctors  have  been 
as  zealous  in  the  discovery  and  application  of 
preventives  as  they  have  been  in  the  use  of 
curative  measures.  Invariably  they  have 
worked  with  the  boards  of  health,  in  introduc- 
ing ordinances,  enforcing  laws  and  in  educating 
the  public  in  matters  pertaining  to  health. 


268       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

To  the  municipality  naturally  **falls  the  task 
of  providing  for  its  citizens  clean  air,  clean 
water,  clean  food,  clean  streets,  clean  houses, 
and  protection  from  infectious  disease.  This 
implies  abolition  of  the  smoke  nuisance,  the 
closing  of  sewers,  prompt  removal  of  garbage, 
adequate  cleaning  of  streets,  enforcement  of 
ordinances  against  spitting,  maintenance  of 
an  absolutely  pure  water-supply,  inspection 
of  meat,  milk,  and  other  foods,  enactment  and 
enforcement  of  strict  building  laws,  publica- 
tion and  isolation  of  infectious  disease,  support 
of  bacteriological  laboratories,  distribution 
and  administration  of  anti-toxin  and  vaccine, 
free  medical  service,  and,  above  all,  regular 
inspection  and  free  treatment  for  the  children 
in  the  public  schools. 

"Modern  educators  appreciate  that  because 
of  the  responsible  position  occupied  by  them, 
it  is  their  duty  carefully  to  guard  the  body  as 
well  as  the  mind  of  the  youthful  generation 
entrusted  to  their  charge,  as  the  origin  of 
many  of  the  most  distressing  diseases  can  be 
traced  to  the  school  life  of  the  sufferer." 

The  state  of  California  has  recently  passed  a 
Health  and  Development  Law  which,  if  strictly 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       269 

carried  out  through  the  public  schools,  will 
greatly  aid  in  producing  not  only  a  healthy 
generation  but  also  men  and  women  fully 
developed  in  mind  and  body.  Each  city  now 
vies  with  every  other  in  reducing  the  death 
and  the  morbidity  rate,  but  this  effort  takes 
money  and  thus  it  becomes  necessary  for  a 
constant  campaign  of  education  in  order  to 
secure  the  necessary  funds.  Sometimes  it 
takes  an  epidemic  to  make  the  people  willing 
to  spend  large  sums  of  money  for  the  public 
health.  The  necessity  for  pure  water  is  leading 
many  cities  to  make  large  expenditures  for 
water  supply.  Notable  among  these  is  Los 
Angeles,  California,  which  is  now  spending 
$23,000,000  in  order  to  bring  to  the  city  the 
clear,  pure  water  of  the  high  Sierras  in  a 
covered  aqueduct  217  miles  long. 

There  are  many  health  problems  which  are 
far  wider  than  the  city.  Recognizing  this 
fact,  every  state  has  organized  a  state  board 
of  health,  the  first  being  organized  in  Massa- 
chusetts in  1869. 

"What  public  provisions  for  sanitary  work 
had  been  made  before  this  time  in  any  state, 
were    of    a    temporary    character,    to    meet 


270       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

special  emergencies.  Such  had  been  the  case 
at  one  time  when  the  city  of  New  Orleans  was 
protected  by  quarantine  against  an  invasion 
of  yellow  fever.  This  and  a  few  other  ex- 
amples may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  early 
indications  of  the  coming  of  state  medicine, 
and  as  having  had  something  to  do  in  prepar- 
ing the  way.  The  Massachusetts  board  was 
the  first  in  the  country  so  established  and 
equipped  as  to  be  able  to  do  such  general 
good  work,  as  to  secure  for  itself  a  high  and 
permanent  place  in  the  public  service.  As 
now  seen,  this  early  service  was  useful  in  an 
important  way,  by  furnishing  object  lessons 
in  practical  sanitation  to  other  states  and 
communities  at  home  and  abroad." 

Thus  came  in  the  era  of  state  preventive 
medicine,  a  special  study  being  made  by 
each  state  as  to  the  primal  causes  of  all  dis- 
ease with  the  object  of  preventing  it.  In 
addition  to  the  state  sanitary  work,  the  boards 
are  beginning  to  give  attention  to  conserva- 
tion of  the  vital  resources  of  the  nation  by 
seeing  that  they  are  not  sapped  at  the  root 
through  child  labor  and  the  industrial  employ- 
ment of  prospective  and  nursing  mothers,  or 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       271 

wasted  by  the  subjection  of  its  adult  citizens 
to  extreme  hours  of  labor  or  bad  conditions 
in  mine,  shop,  or  factory. 

Co-operating  with  the  city,  state  and  nation, 
there  are  a  number  of  great  institutions 
founded  by  men  and  women  of  wealth,  where 
original  investigations  are  carried  on  for  the 
purpose  of  finding  the  cause  and  cure  of  specific 
diseases,  such  as  the  Henry  Phipps  Institute 
for  the  study,  treatment,  and  prevention  of 
tuberculosis;  the  Rockefeller  Institute  for 
Medical  Research,  where  a  serum  has  been 
discovered  for  the  successful  treatment  of 
spinal  meningitis,  and  the  McCormick  In- 
stitute for  the  study  of  infectious  diseases. 
The  insurance  companies  have  united  in  an 
effort  to  secure  the  preservation  and  prolonga- 
tion of  human  life — an  effort  actuated  by 
selfish  motives,  it  is  true,  yet  an  effort  which 
points  to  great  success  when  all  the  nation  is 
at  work  in  the  same  endeavor. 

Disease  knows  no  state  bounds,  it  is  nation- 
wide, it  is  even  an  international  question. 
While  a  national  health  department  is  inevi-: 
table,  the  fear  of  a  loss  of  states'  rights  and  an 
increase    of    paternalism    has    retarded    the 


27«       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

necessary  assumption  of  watchful  care  over 
national  health. 

The  work  of  the  nation  in  life  saving  has 
been  an  evolution,  being  greatly  increased 
within  the  past  decade.  The  general  public 
now  readily  concedes  that,  '*The  function  of 
the  national  government  is  to  prevent  the 
importation  of  disease,  through  strict  quar- 
antine at  all  ports  of  entry,  and  the  transfer 
of  disease  from  one  state  to  another,  through 
strict  supervision  of  all  inter-state  carriers; 
to  disseminate  information  on  every  point 
pertaining  to  the  vitality  of  the  people;  and  to 
collect  and  tabulate  vital  statistics." 

But  as  yet  few  realize  the  great  extent  of 
the  work  for  public  health  which  is  now  being 
carried  on  in  the  great  research  laboratories, 
or  the  extent  of  the  preventive  work  in  Porto 
Rico,  Panama,  Guam,  Hawaii,  and  the  Philip- 
pines, or  of  the  number  of  workers,  equal  to  an 
army  of  men,  now  employed  in  national 
hospitals  as  scientists  and  experts  on  sanitary 
commissions  and  international  research,  on 
sanitary  corps  and  mosquito  brigades,  all  for 
the  purpose  of  blotting  out  disease  and  bring- 
ing about  normal  life  and  health. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       273' 

Professor  Irving  Fisher  estimates  in  terms 
of  money  that  the  United  States  c  ould  save 
annually  one  billion  dollars  now  lost  through 
deaths  that  need  not  occur,  and  at  least  half  a 
billion  through  sickness  that  could  easily  be 
prevented,  which  added  to  losses  from  minor 
diseases  would  bring  the  sum  to  the  amount 
claimed  by  another  expert,  showing  that  every 
seven  years  we  waste  enough  through  sickness 
and  death  "to  pay  for  the  Panama  canal,  to 
duplicate  the  army  and  navy,  to  deepen  the 
inland  waterways,  to  double  our  shipping  and 
commerce,  to  pay  our  national  debt,  to  abolish 
taxes,  and  to  put  a  billion-dollar  surplus  in  the 
national  treasury." 

This  is  surely  of  such  moment  that  the 
nation  will  respond  to  the  greater  demands  of 
the  time.  Our  Agricultural  Department  re- 
sponds quickly  when  there  is  an  epidemic 
among  cattle  or  hogs.  Recently  much  money 
was  spent  in  investigating  and  checking  the 
ravages  of  the  disease  among  horses  and  cattle 
caused  by  eating  the  loco  weed.  An  equally 
quick  response  on  the  part  of  the  government 
is  hoped  for  in  combating  all  disease  affecting 
the  human  race.     This  is  the  more  important 


274       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

as  shown  by  Prof.  Fisher  when  he  contends 
that,  "Both  the  length  and  the  strength  of 
man's  life  are  dependent  upon  definitive  con- 
ditions, and  these  conditions  are  within  the 
power  of  man  to  control." 

**In  the  sixteenth  century,"  says  a  writer, 
in  quoting  this  report,  "the  average  length  of 
human  life  in  European  countries  was  between 
eighteen  and  twenty  years.  Today,  it  is 
between  forty  and  fifty  years.  During  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  when 
hygiene  and  sanitary  science  had  not  yet  been 
born,  the  rate  of  increase  was  about  four  years 
per  century.  During  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  when  those  sciences  were 
taking  their  first  uncertain  steps,  the  rate  of 
increase  was  extended  to  nine  years  per  cent- 
ury. During  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  they  had  attained  a  fairly 
robust  growth,  the  rate  of  increase  practically 
doubled.  At  the  present  time,  in  Germany, 
where  hygiene  and  sanitation  have  been 
highly  developed  and  wisely  applied,  the  rate 
of  increase  is  twenty-seven  years  per  century; 
while  in  India,  where  practically  nothing  has 
I  been  done  along  these  lines,  there  has  been 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       275 

no  increase  at  all.  In  the  world  at  large 
man's  life  has  lengthened  and  his  death-rate 
has  fallen." 

If  life  can  be  lengthened  as  is  claimed  on  an 
average  of  eight  years  by  the  use  of  pure  water, 
pure  milk,  and  pure  air,  throughout  the  land, 
has  not  the  question  of  health  and  sanitation 
attained  a  position  of  vast  importance  in  the 
nation.^ 

In  his  report  to  the  Second  Reclamation 
Congress  on  Sanitary  Regulations  governing 
construction  camps,  Mr.  M.  O.  Leighton, 
says: 

"Sanitation,  according  to  the  popular  idea, 
is  a  science  which  has  no  pecuniary  utility — 
that  is,  the  purposes  are  entirely  humanitarian 
and  have  little  or  no  relation  to  money  values. 
This  idea  is  erroneous.  There  are  phases  of 
the  sanitary  question  which  are  quite  as  im- 
portant from  the  financial  as  they  are  from 
the  purely  social  standpoint.  Almost  no- 
where is  this  better  exemplified  than  in 
connection  with  great  construction  camps. 

"The  physical  condition  of  the  laborer  is 
the  measure  of  his  day's  work.  Whether  his 
occupation     be    active    or    sedentary,    his 


276       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

achievements  are  finally  controlled  and  limited 
by  his  relation  to  physical  ills.  The  difference 
between  the  achievements  of  a  person  in  good 
and  in  poor  physical  condition  is  a  matter  of 
common  observation.  When  this  difference 
applies  to  a  whole  community  its  total  is 
increased  in  direct  ratio  to  the  number  of 
persons,  and  in  a  camp  of  several  hundred 
workmen  it  becomes  a  serious  item.  It  may 
represent  the  difference  between  success  and 
failure  in  the  completion  of  a  piece  of  work 
within  a  specified  period,  in  the  character  of 
the  work,  or  in  its  permanence  after  comple- 
tion. 

"It  is  only  a  step  from  the  poor  physical 
condition  that  is  responsible  for  indifferent 
labor,  to  the  acute  illness  during  which  all 
productive  labor  ceases.  A  general  epidemic 
of  acute  disease  in  a  construction  camp  is 
disastrous.  Disease  rather  than  engineering 
difficulties  has  been  the  cause  of  absolute 
failure  in  certain  great  projects.  The  earlier 
attempt  at  the  construction  of  the  Panama 
Canal  is  a  notable  instance.  In  short,  sanita- 
tion is  one  of  the  vital  necessities  in  construc- 
tion camps." 


)/iM 


mm. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       277 

So  important  is  the  question  of  health  to 
the  efficiency  of  the  force  that  not  only  the 
ordinary  precautions  are  taken  in  all  govern- 
ment construction  work,  but  the  following 
clause  is  incorporated  into  the  specifications 
of  each  contract  advertised  under  the  Recla- 
mation Law. 

"The  use  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor  will 
be  absolutely  prohibited  on  the  work  except 
under  the  direction  and  supervision  of  the 
engineer  in  charge,  or  his  agent,  and  then  only 
for  medicinal  purposes." 

The  story  of  what  has  been  done  by  the 
government  must  be  told  in  order  rightly  to 
judge  of  the  extent  to  which  our  government 
has  gone  in  the  matter  of  life  saving. 

The  Navy  Department  has  its  bureau  of 
medicine  and  surgery  under  a  surgeon-general. 
This  bureau  maintains  a  large  medical  corps 
assisted  by  a  hospital  corps  and  women  nurses, 
whose  duty  is  to  maintain  the  highest  health 
efficiency  possible  among  both  naval  officers 
and  men  afloat  and  ashore.  Special  attention 
is  given  to  the  study  of  disease  common  to 
tropical  countries  with  reference  to  guarding 
the   health    of    the    navy    while   sailing   or 


278       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

stationed  in  tropical  lands.  The  medical 
oflBcers  are  able  to  be  useful  to  local  oflScials  in 
Porto  Rico,  Hawaii,  Guam  and  Samoa,  and 
the  Philippines.  The  naval  hospitals  at  home 
and  abroad  are  not  only  houses  of  healing,  but 
laboratories  for  research  as  well,  demonstrating 
that  the  naval  establishment  is  not  for  killing 
men  only,  but  is  maintained  also  in  the  interest 
of  human  life  and  health. 

"Just  as  public  opinion  is  throwing  its 
weight  in  the  balance  toward  the  cause  of 
universal  amity  and  is  guiding  the  action  of 
representatives  in  the  great  peace  movement," 
says  the  surgeon-general,  "so  this  same  potent 
influence  is  being  irresistibly  felt  in  humani- 
tarian and  health  movements,  and  is  determin- 
ing the  progress  of  the  world  in  all  that  makes 
for  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  uplift  of 
mankind." 

The  health  of  the  United  States  army  is 
looked  after  by  its  medical  department,  and 
like  that  of  the  navy  it  concerns  itself  with 
more  far-reaching  questions  than  the  handling 
of  disease  among  the  soldiers,  for  it  deals  with 
prophylaxis  as  well  as  with  cure.  Since  the 
Spanish  War,  attention  has  been  especially 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       279 

directed  toward  preventive  measures,  since 
as  a  result  of  this  war  there  was  a  great  in- 
crease in  malaria  and  yellow  fever,  tuberculo- 
sis, typhoid  and  venereal  diseases,  all  of  which 
yield  readily  to  preventive  treatment.  The 
methods  employed  in  combating  these  diseases 
will  be  described  later  in  discussing  health 
conditions  in  Porto  Rico,  Panama,  and  the 
Philippines,  as  well  as  at  home. 

The  medical  department  of  the  army  main- 
tains a  board  for  the  study  of  tropical  diseases, 
and  the  published  results  of  their  investiga- 
tions are  of  great  aid  to  all  health  boards  in  our 
insular  possessions. 

But  the  greatest  results  in  the  increase  of 
national  health  are  to  be  found  in  the  Public 
Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service,  the 
nucleus  of  the  future  department  of  health 
and  education.  Surgeon-General  Walter  Wy- 
man,  at  the  head  of  this  splendid  service, 
attached  to  the  Treasury  Department,  tells 
of  the  splendid  work  done  in  the  interest  of 
life  saving.  In  1798,  Congress  passed  an  act 
for  the  relief  of  sick  and  disabled  seamen,  thus 
establishing  the  Marine  Hospital  Service. 
Duties  of  a  public  health  nature  were  gradu- 


280       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

ally  added  until  in  1902,  the  name  was  changed 
to  the  present  one  **The  Public  Health  and 
Marine  Hospital  Service."  For  the  perform- 
ance of  the  duties  of  the  Service,  the  personnel 
numbers  118  commissioned  medical  officers, 
three  special  scientists  in  the  Hygienic  Labo- 
ratory, ^55  acting  assistant  surgeons,  47 
pharmacists,  and  851  employees. 

While  the  men  of  the  Life  Saving  Service, 
the  lighthouse  establishment,  the  army  and 
navy  are  guarding  and  protecting  our  coasts 
from  foreign  invasion,  these  heroes  of  the 
microscope  are  prolonging  and  protecting 
human  life  by  a  constant  warfare  on  germs 
and  microbes  which  might  otherwise  come 
swarming  in  from  Europe,  Asia,  and  the 
tropical  islands.  These  are  men  to  be  hon- 
ored, and  some  of  them  should  have  their 
names  engraved  in  the  Hall  of  Fame. 

The  work  of  the  Service  consists  of  maritime 
and  interstate  quarantine,  medical  inspection 
of  immigrants,  medical  care  and  treatment 
of  sick  and  disabled  seamen,  medical  assist- 
ance to  other  branches  of  government,  scien- 
tific research  in  public  health  matters,  sup- 
pression of  epidemics,  the  regulation  of  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       281 

manufacture  and  sale  of  serums,  antitoxins 
and  analogous  products  in  interstate  com- 
merce, the  collecting  of  morbidity  statistics, 
and  sanitary  information,  and  co-operation 
with  state  boards  of  health.  A  broad  field 
of  work,  yet  growing  broader  every  year. 
General  Wyman  reports  that  in  the  laboratory 
of  the  Public  Health  Service,  there  is  a  corps 
of  men  consisting  of  bacteriologists,  patholo- 
gists, zoologists,  pharmacologists  and  chemists 
constantly  employed  at  research  work  having  a 
direct  sanitary  bearing.  In  addition  it  is 
through  this  laboratory  that  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  viruses,  serums,  toxins  and  analo- 
gous products  are  regulated.  Institutions  man- 
ufacturing these  articles,  at  the  present  time 
so  important  in  the  treatment  of  the  sick,  are 
inspected  at  frequent  intervals,  and  the  pro- 
ducts themselves  are  bought  in  the  open 
market  and  examined  for  purity  and  strength. 
Thus  the  consumer,  who  in  this  case  is  the 
helpless  sick,  is  protected,  and  the  physician 
can  intelligently  and  with  a  feeling  of  security 
prescribe  an  article  of  assured  efficiency. 

To  this  end  standard  units,  official  for  the 
United    States,    have    been    established    for 


282       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

diphtheria,  and  tetanus  antitoxin  so  that  the 
strength  of  all  makes  of  these  products  sold  in 
interstate  commerce  is  based  on  a  common 
standard  and  the  labels  on  the  package  show 
correctly  and  in  known  terms  the  therapeutic 
efficiency  of  the  contents.  Previous  to  the 
establishment  of  these  standards  far  difiPerent 
conditions  existed.  At  this  laboratory  much 
work  has  been  done  on  public  health  subjects, 
of  which  the  following  will  give  some  idea  of 
the  character:  The  cause  of  the  prevalence  of 
typhoid  fever  in  cities;  the  relation  of  milk  to 
the  public  health;  the  cause  and  effect  of  the 
prevalence  of  hookworm  disease  in  certain  of 
the  southern  states;  the  best  methods  of  use 
and  relative  efficiency  of  disinfectants  and 
germicides;  the  chemistry  of  milk  in  its  re- 
lation to  infant  feeding;  the  effects  and 
therapeutic  uses  of  drugs;  bacteriological 
studies  in  connection  with  quarantine  and 
quarantinable  diseases;  studies  in  malaria, 
yellow  fever,  Rocky  Mountain  fever,  milk 
sickness,  and  many  other  sanitary  investi- 
gations of  a  similar  nature.  Here  also  is 
prepared  the  virus  used  in  the  prevention 
and  treatment  of  rabies.     Persons   living   in 


o 

O 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       283 

the  District  of  Columbia,  bitten  by  rabid 
animals,  or  those  unable  to  come  to  Washing- 
ton are  treated  upon  request  of  local  health 
officers  to  whom  also  the  therapeutic  virus  is 
sent  for  treatment  at  a  distance  when  asked 
for.  The  service  also  maintains  a  leprosy 
investigation  station  on  the  Island  of  Molokai 
where  this  disease,  of  so  much  importance  to 
our  island  possessions,  Hawaii  and  the  Philip- 
pines, is  being  studied,  and  where  investiga- 
tions will  be  continued  until  the  best  means 
of  treatment  is  found  or  a  specific  cure  dis- 
covered.* The  facilities  of  this  laboratory  are 
offered  to  municipal  and  state  health  offices  as 
well  as  offices  of  the  corps,  and  of  other 
departments  and  of  neighboring  republics. 
On  request  of  states,  trained  officers  are  sent 
to  investigate  and  suppress  epidemics,  when 
the  local  forces  are  unable  to  control  the 
situation. 

The  service  maintains  forty-three  quaran- 
tine stations  along  all  the  coasts  and  in  the 
Insular  Possessions,  "and  vessels  coming  to 
these  ports  from  foreign  countries  are  boarded 
and  inspected  before  entering  the  port,  and 

•From  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Service  for  1908. 


284       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

if  quarantinable  disease  is  found  on  board,  or 
if  they  have  come  from  an  infected  port  with- 
out having  taken  proper  precautions,  as 
specified  in  the  quarantine  regulations,  the 
vessel  is  detained  for  observation,  disinfected 
or  otherwise  treated." 

An  important  and  interesting  portion  of  the 
quarantine  administration,  according  to  Gen- 
eral Wyman,  is  the  fruit-port  inspection  serv- 
ice, medical  officers  being  stationed  in  ten  of 
the  principal  fruit  ports  of  Central  and  South 
America,  detailed  by  the  President  in  the 
offices  of  the  American  consuls,  to  insure  such 
care  in  the  sanitation  of  the  vessels  as  to  war- 
rant their  admission  at  the  southern  ports  of 
the  United  States  without  detention,  which 
would  destroy  the  fruit.  The  effect  of  these 
officers  in  the  fruit  ports  is  most  salutary, 
greatly  enhancing  their  sanitary  condition. 

In  addition  to  the  medical  inspectors  in 
fruit  ports  there  are  medical  officers  at  the 
principal  ports  of  Japan  and  China,  one  at 
Calcutta  and  one  at  Naples.  Besides  their 
quarantine  duties  these  officers  also  examine 
departing  emigrants. 

Bulletins  of  public  health  are  issued  weekly 


■^.... 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       285 

and  in  addition  to  these,  short  bulletins  are 
sent  to  health  officers  and  others  whenever 
requested.  No  more  important  work  falls 
to  the  Service  than  that  of  medical  inspection 
of  immigrants,  thus  saving  the  introduction 
into  the  country  of  many  infectious  and 
contagious  diseases.  In  addition  to  the  in- 
spection at  Ellis  Island,  the  Service  maintains 
large  hospitals  there  for  the  treatment  of  the 
sick  among  the  newcomers. 

The  surgeon-general  is  required  by  law  to 
hold  a  sanitary  conference  at  Washington  of 
the  state  boards  of  health.  At  the  Fifth 
Annual  Conference  there  were  twenty  states 
and  the  District  of  Columbia  represented. 
The  transactions  are  printed  in  a  separate 
volume  which  may  be  obtained  by  applica- 
tion. 

International  meetings  relating  to  the  public 
health  are  occasionally  held,  such  as  the  Third 
International  Sanitary  Convention  of  Ameri- 
can Republics  held  in  the  City  of  Mexico;  the 
International  Congress  on  Tuberculosis  held 
in  Washington,  September,  1908,  at  which  was 
presented  an  exhibition  relating  to  tuber- 
culosis, prepared  by  the  scientific  bureaus  of 


286       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  several  departments,  and  also  the  Inter- 
national Congress  of  Hygiene  and  Demog- 
raphy, meeting  every  three  years — in  Berlin  in 
1907  and  at  Washington  by  invitation  of  the 
President  in  1910. 

The  Service  maintains  twenty-one  marine 
hospitals  and  123  marine  hospital  stations  for 
free  treatment  of  sick  and  disabled  sailors 
together  with  a  reservation  at  Fort  Stanton 
for  the  tubercular  sailors. 

The  surgeon-general  recommends  in  his 
report  the  establishment  of  a  school  of 
hygiene  connected  with  hygienic  laboratory  of 
the  Service,  to  which  accredited  state  and 
municipal  health  officers  might  be  assigned 
for  a  well-defined  course  of  research  and 
special  instruction.  The  plan  would  include 
the  presentation  of  authorized  diplomas,  or 
title  of  doctor  of  public  health.  Without 
doubt  the  plan  suggested  would  greatly 
strengthen  state  and  local  health  administra- 
tion, and  the  cost  to  the  service  would  be 
insignificant. 

This  might  include  a  special  course,  the 
graduates  from  which  would  receive  the  title  of 
Doctor  of  Prophylaxis,  for  in  the  future  there 


i^fc^ 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       287 

is  sure  to  be  a  great  demand  for  men  trained 
in  the  profession  of  preventive  medicine. 

The  national  government  does  not  content 
itself  with  collecting  and  publishing  statistics 
and  information  regarding  the  great  national 
diseases,  but  it  is  engaged  in  the  actual  work 
of  driving  these  fearful  plagues  from  the  land. 
Should  a  foreign  foe  attempt  to  land  on  our 
shores,  a  foe  strong  enough  to  slay  200,000  of 
our  citizens,  it  would  be  met  by  an  armed  force 
of  suflScient  strength  to  repel  it.  Even 
though  this  effort  should  call  for  the  ex- 
penditure of  millions  of  dollars.  Congress 
could  appropriate  the  money,  for  it  has  the 
power,  under  the  Constitution,  "To  provide 
for  the  common  defense  and  promote  the 
general  welfare  of  the  United  States."  Tuber- 
culosis, "that  captain  of  the  hosts  of  death," 
which  is  the  cause  of  the  world's  greatest 
mortality,  lays  a  tax  upon  the  nation  to  be 
measured  only  in  terms  of  billions  of  dollars. 
As  the  right  of  defense  against  an  armed  force 
is  granted  by  the  Constitution,  then  the 
nation  has  the  same  right  to  war  against 
tuberculosis  for  this  disease  is  indeed  a  foe, 
inasmuch  as  it  annually  slays  over  200,000 


288       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

citizens.  This  white  plague  can  be  combated 
also  under  the  general  welfare  clause  of  the 
Constitution,  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
nation  is  wrapped  up  in  the  protection  of  the 
lives  and  the  health  of  its  citizens,  and  in  the 
raising  of  all  its  people  to  their  highest  eco- 
nomic efficiency.  Because  of  the  evident 
truth  of  this  statement,  it  is  readily  granted 
that  "the  nation  ought  to  be  interested  ag- 
gressively in  whatever  tends  unnecessarily  to 
handicap  the  economic  value  of  the  lives  of  its 
people,  and  in  whatever  tends  to  vitiate  and 
deteriorate  and  to  make  less  efficient  the  lives 
of  those  who  are  the  builders  of  the  nation." 
What  this  government  has  done  to  prevent 
and  cure  tuberculosis  among  its  soldiers  and 
sailors  might  be  extended  to  the  other  needy 
ones  among  its  citizenship.  For  its  soldiers 
sick  with  tuberculosis,  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  army  has  arranged  a  sanatorium 
on  a  tract  of  land  six  miles  square  at  Fort 
Bayard,  New  Mexico.  The  Naval  Bureau 
of  Medicine  has  chosen  Fort  Lyon,  Colorado, 
for  its  sanatorium  for  the  officers  and  men  of 
the  navy.  These  locations  are  remote  from 
the  evil  influences  of  large  cities,  and  when 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       £89 

beautified  will  make  homelike  places,  offering 
many  physical  comforts  to  those  who  are 
seeking  health. 

The  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital 
Service  maintains  a  sanatorium  for  all  con- 
sumptive seamen,  on  a  beautiful  reservation  at 
Fort  Stanton,  New  Mexico.  Here  the  com- 
manding officer  has  eliminated  all  spirituous 
liquors  from  the  materia  medica  of  the  sana- 
torium. If  the  government  can  care  so 
thoughtfully  and  successfully  for  some  of  its 
citizens,  why  can  it  not  do  so  for  other  tuber- 
culosis sick,  segregating  them  and  thus  saving 
many  from  possible  infection. 

The  Interior  Department  operates  another 
reservation,  given  entirely  to  the  cure  of  the 
nation's  sick  at  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas.  Here 
is  situated  the  Army  and  Navy  General 
Hospital  with  over  700  patients  treated  an- 
nually. While  the  water  from  these  wonder- 
ful medicinal  springs  is  sold  to  a  number  of 
private  hotels,  it  is  furnished  without  cost  to 
the  hospital  and  to  the  free  public  bathhouse, 
where  the  indigent  sick  from  all  over  the  land 
can  come  to  bathe  in  the  healing  waters. 
Some  seven  hundred  daily  make  use  of  this 
bath  house. 


290       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

^Typhoid  is  another  interstate,  even  inter- 
national disease,  for  the  source  of  contagion 
may  be  across  the  state  or  national  line, 
therefore  falling  naturally  under  the  care  of 
the  nation.  The  government  has  undertaken 
the  education  of  the  public  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  the  elimination  of  this  disease  by 
showing  it  to  be  entirely  preventable.  The 
campaign  of  education  is  now  on  and  millions 
of  leaflets  on  prevention  of  disease  are  being 
issued  by  the  government  and  state  boards 
of  health.  Considering  the  deaths  from  pre- 
ventable diseases,  it  has  been  estimated  that 
four  hundred  thousand  of  every  million  deaths 
result  from  diseases  which  could  easily  have 
been  prevented  had  proper  sanitary  and  hy- 
gienic precautions  been  taken. 

Inasmuch  as  typhoid  fever  is  an  easily  pre- 
ventable disease,  it  has  been  said,  with  truth, 
that  every  case  of  typhoid  fever  is  evidence  of 
almost  criminal  neglect  on  the  part  of  someone. 

The  financial  waste  from  this  disease  is 
shown  to  be  great,  when  an  average  state,  like 
Indiana,  can  report  that  typhoid  fever  costs  the 

♦See  Appen(Jix  for  description  of  typhoid  and  the  method  of 
treatment. 


lH 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       291 

people  within  its  boundaries  over  $5,000,000 
annually.  This  waste  is  calculated  upon  lives 
unnecessarily  lost,  time  lost  through  sickness, 
and  costs  of  drugs,  nurses,  and  doctors. 

Through  investigations  carried  on  by  the 
government  specialists,  it  has  been  shown  that 
typhoid  is  more  than  a  water-borne  disease,  for 
milk  and  flies  are  carriers  and  their  investi- 
gations have  also  shown  that  recovered  pa- 
tients may  carry  about  with  them  the  source 
of  contagion  for  many  years. 

"The  human  being  distributes  typhoid 
bacilli  during  the  disease,  during  convales- 
cence, and  frequently  for  years  after  as  carrier 
cases,  and  indeed  some  carrier  cases  seem 
never  to  have  had  typhoid  fever  at  all — it  may 
be  that  such  cases  have  had  the  disease  so 
mildly  as  to  be  overlooked."  This  new  dis- 
covery demands  post-typhoidal  treatment  in 
all  cases. 

The  milk  supply  is  such  a  source  of  disease, 
not  alone  of  typhoid  but  of  many  infantile 
troubles,  that  in  the  interest  of  the  babies  of 
the  nation,  the  government  has  joined  with 
states  and  municipalities  in  a  campaign  for 
clean  milk.     It  has  also  undertaken  a  strong 


292       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

campaign  against  the  house  fly,  which  it 
names  the  ^'typhoid  fly,"  although  dysentery, 
cholera  morbus,  tuberculosis,  Asiatic  cholera, 
and  certain  infectious  eye  diseases,  as  well  as 
typhoid  fever,  are  among  the  maladies  known 
to  be  distributed  by  the  house  fly.^ 

Beyond  question  the  house  fly  was  mainly 
accountable  for  the  outbreaks  of  this  deadly 
disease  in  our  military  camps  during  the  war 
with  Spain,  in  1898.  Every  regiment  devel- 
oped typhoid  within  eight  weeks  after  assemb- 
ling in  the  encampments,  and  in  every  one  of 
the  camps,  in  the  north  as  well  as  in  the  south, 
the  malady  became  epidemic.  One  in  every 
five  of  our  soldiers  in  the  national  encamp- 
ments, during  this  war,  developed  the  disease, 
and  of  the  total  deaths  more  than  eighty  per 
cent  were  caused  by  typhoid.  It  was  the 
flies  that  were  mainly  responsible.  Had  every 
colonel  rigorously  enforced  the  simple  sanitary 
measure  of  making  the  soldiers  use  plenty  of 
dry  earth  in  the  sinks,  the  several  hundred 


*The  government  prints  a  pamphlet  on  household  insects  which 
tells  much  about  the  house  fly,  as  well  as  other  pests.  It  is 
Bulletin  No.  4,  new  series,  Department  of  Agriculture,  Division 
of  Entomology,  and  can  be  had  for  the  asking. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       293 

deaths  and  several  thousand  cases  of  typhoid 
might  have  been  prevented. 

Flies  lay  eggs  in  various  kinds  of  filth,  as  for 
instance,  rotting  meat  or  vegetables,  but  the 
principal  breeding  place  is  the  horse  stable. 
A  fly  will  lay  120  eggs  at  one  time.  The  eggs 
hatch  in  a  few  hours,  and  the  fly  matures  in 
ten  days. 

The  method  for  the  prevention  of  the  breed- 
ing of  flies  is  to  keep  a  constant  watch  that  no 
filth  is  left  exposed  anywhere  about  the  place, 
and  to  clean  out  the  horse  stable  thoroughly 
every  morning,  putting  the  refuse  in  a  covered 
receptacle  so  constructed  that  newly  hatched 
flies  cannot  escape,  and  therefore  die  for  lack 
of  water. 

The  health  authorities  of  New  York  City 
estimate  that  "the  anti-fly  work,  when  prop- 
erly carried  out,  will  reduce  the  typhoid 
deaths  in  the  metropolis  from  650  to  about  360 
a  year,  and  diarrheal  deaths  from  7,000  to 
about  2,000.  This  saving  of  more  than  5,000 
lives  per  annum  will  be  accompanied  by  an 
additional  saving  of  50,000  cases  of  serious 
sickness." 

For  some  time  foreign  armies  have  used 


«94        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

vaccination  as  a  means  of  immunizing  against 
typhoid.  A  board  of  medical  experts  have 
reported  favorably  on  the  question  of  vaccina- 
tion, and  as  a  result  this  method  will  be  used 
by  the  medical  corps  of  the  army.  This  proves 
to  be  a  harmless  way  of  gaining  protection, 
and  is  given  as  follows : 

**A  man  receives  a  few  drops  of  the  prophy- 
lactic material  by  means  of  a  hypodermic  in- 
jection into  the  arm,  and  after  a  few  hours  he 
will  probably  have  a  little  fever  or  headache, 
and  a  tender  spot  on  the  arm.  It  has,  how- 
ever, the  great  advantage  over  vaccination 
against  smallpox,  that  the  tender  spot  on  the 
arm  never  becomes  sore.  It  is,  in  fact,  a 
simple,  clean,  and  harmless  affair,  and  a  mere 
trifle  compared  to  the  danger  of  life,  or  the 
long  illness  and  expense  of  an  attack  of  typhoid 
fever." 

If  the  government  is  warring  against  flies, 
the  battle  is  fiercer  against  mosquitoes.  Ma- 
laria and  yellow  fever  have  claimed  their 
victims  by  millions  throughout  the  centuries, 
and  mankind  seemed  helpless  before  the 
scourge.  It  was  thought  that  malaria  was 
mal-aria — bad  air — caused  by  miasmas  rising 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         295 

at  night  from  swamps  and  bogs.  Therefore, 
it  was  believed  that  the  people  who  lived  in 
such  regions  would  surely  have  malaria  or 
ague.  The  yellow  fever  came,  they  knew  not 
how,  and  the  people  in  a  panic  could  only 
fight  it  blindly,  fearing  the  worst.  The  cause 
of  both  of  these  diseases  was  found  to  be  the 
mosquito. 

An  English  commission  of  doctors  was  sent, 
to  camp  for  a  year  in  the  deadly  swamps  of  the 
Pontine  Marshes  in  Italy,  a  region  always 
noted  for  malaria.  By  protecting  their  faces 
with  veils,  and  their  hands  with  gloves,  and  by 
living  in  carefully  screened  camps,  they  were 
able  to  avoid  the  bite  of  the  mosquito,  with  the 
result  that  not  one  of  the  commission  became 
infected  with  malaria.  By  many  other  similar 
experiments,  it  was  decided  by  scientists  that 
malaria  is  conveyed  to  human  beings  only 
through  the  agency  of  the  anopheles  mosquito. 
Mosquitoes  become  infected  by  biting  persons 
who  are  already  affected  with  the  disease. 
Mosquitoes  can  be  destroyed  by  removing 
all  stagnant  water;  by  deepening  ponds  and 
pools  which  cannot  be  drained  or  filled  up,  and 
introducing  fish;  by  clearing  away  obstructions 


296         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

and  weeds  from  gutters  and  ditches  to  permit 
of  free  escape  for  storm  water;  by  destroying 
the  larvae  with  oil  in  situations  where  more 
radical  treatment  cannot  be  applied;  by 
destroying  adult  mosquitoes  which  hibernate 
in  cellars,  drains,  cesspools,  and  other  places 
by  the  use  of  the  smoke  of  burning  insect 
powder,  and  by  brushing  them  out  and  con- 
suming them  by  fire. 

When  the  government  carries  out  the  plan 
of  draining  the  80,000,000  acres  of  swamp 
lands  in  the  United  States,  it  will  not  only 
help  in  home  making,  but  will  go  far  towards 
expelling  malaria  from  the  land. 

If  the  anopheles  mosquito  comes  laden  with 
the  germ  of  malaria  the  stegomyia  is  more  to  be 
feared,  for  the  bite  of  the  female  may  bring 
the  dreaded  yellow  fever. 

The  city  of  Havana  for  several  centuries 
was  the  yellow-fever  pest-hole  for  infecting 
North  America;  and  every  summer  our  south- 
ern cities  were  in  fear  of  this  undesirable  Cuban 
importation.  As  soon  as  the  Spaniards  were 
superseded  by  our  army,  Havana  was  cleansed 
of  its  dirt  and  became  a  healthy  city,  except 
that  it  still  produced  yellow  fever. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         297 

Then  came  that  wonderful  exhibition  of 
heroism  by  three  young  United  States'  army 
surgeons.  Samuel  Hopkins  Adams  in  a  maga- 
zine article,  describes  the  work  of  these  memo- 
rable heroes: 

"Reed,  Carroll,  and  Lazear  established  near 
Havana  in  1900,  an  experiment  station  to  test 
on  human  subjects  the  mosquito  theory  sug- 
gested by  Finlay  and  earlier  observers.  Two 
adjoining  houses  were  selected,  presenting 
precisely  the  same  conditions  of  hygiene, 
sanitation  and  temperature,  and  in  these 
squads  of  Volunteers  were  domiciled.  In  one 
was  put  the  soiled  sheets,  pillows,  blankets 
from  the  hospital  at  Havana,  in  which  yellow 
fever  patients  had  slept  and  died.  This 
dwelling  was  carefully  screened  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  mosquitoes.  In  the  foul  bedding 
the  volunteers  slept  for  two  months.  Not  one 
case  of  yellow  fever  developed  among  them. 
The  other  house  was  kept  as  clean  as  sanitary 
science  could  make  it.  Everything  used  by  the 
men  who  volunteered  for  this  part  of  the  work 
was  sterilized.  Into  the  room  were  intro- 
duced specimens  of  the  stegomyia  mosquito, 
which  had  bitten  yellow  fever  patients.    Of 


298         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  occupants  of  this  room,  fifty  per  cent 
developed  yellow  fever.  Finally,  men  who 
had  lived  unaflFected  for  twenty  days  amidst 
the  foul  surroundings  of  the  first  establishment 
allowed  themselves  to  be  bitten  by  the  in- 
fected mosquitoes,  and  seventy  per  cent  of 
them  took  the  disease.  No  low  order  of 
courage  was  required  in  those  who  submitted 
to  either  test.  Lazear  died,  a  martyr  to 
humanity,  and  is  remembered  by  one  where 
the  lesser  heroes  of  our  Cuban  battlefields 
are  acclaimed  by  thousands.  Carroll  barely 
escaped  with  his  life,  and  Reed  shrinking  from 
no  peril  which  his  companions  braved,  came 
through  unscathed  by  virtue  of  some  natural 
immunity,  only  to  die  of  another  illness  in  the 
following  year.  At  the  price  of  martyrdom 
for  several  men  (for  some  of  the  volunteers 
died  )  of  patience  and  peril  and  suffering  for 
the  others,  it  was  proved  in  the  utmost  detail 
that  only  through  the  bite  of  an  infected 
mosquito  does  yellow  fever  attack  the  human 
subject;  that  the  fever-bearing  insect  itself 
becomes  infected  only  by  biting  a  patient  in 
the  first  five  days  of  disease;  and  that 
not  until  twelve  days  thereafter  can  the  insect 


Ih- 


THE  BETTER   COUNTRY         299 

transmit  the  infection.  Reduced  to  its  prac- 
tical terms,  this  means  that  yellow  fever  can 
exist  only  where  the  stegomyia  breeds." 

This  being  proven,  the  sanitary  superin- 
tendent of  Havana,  Col.  W.  C.  Gorgas,  de- 
stroyed the  mosquitoes  and  drove  out  yellow 
fever.  Later  the  battle  against  yellow  fever 
in  New  Orleans  showed  that  it  was  within  the 
power  of  men  to  rid  the  world  of  this  dread 
disease. 

With  the  Havana  experience,  Colonel  Gor- 
gas was  just  the  man  to  be  sent  as  chief 
sanitary  oflScer  to  the  Panama  Canal.  On 
the  Isthmus,  yellow  fever  had  wrecked  De 
Lesseps'  enterprise.  It  had  put  a  Chinaman, 
under  every  tie  of  the  Panama  Railroad ;  it  had 
taken  the  life  of  many  a  Forty-niner  on  the  way 
home  with  gold  from  California's  mines.  The 
ignorant  public  was  impatient,  waiting  for 
the  dirt  to  fly  on  the  great  canal,  but  Colonel 
Gorgas  insisted  that  health  must  have  first 
consideration.  After  the  zone  had  been 
cleansed,  sanitary  houses  built  and  all  build- 
ings well  screened  from  mosquitoes,  the 
stegomyia  destroyed,  and  the  anopheles  re- 
stricted by  swamp  drainage,  then  the  work  of 


SOO  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

canal  building  might  be  undertaken  without 
fear  of  disaster  through  disease.  The  results 
show  that  this  officer  was  not  only  humane, 
but  wiser  than  most  of  his  critics,  for  the 
miracle  of  sanitation  accomplished  by  Colonel 
Gorgas  has  "transformed  the  Canal  Zone 
from  a  region  reeking  with  disease  and  death 
to  a  beautiful  park,  cleared  of  its  jungles, 
drained  of  its  swamps,  with  its  mosquitoes 
practically  exterminated  and  yellow  fever 
stamped  out." 

A  sample  report  made  to  the  Isthmian 
Canal  Commission  for  one  month  in  1908,  is 
encouraging : 

'^Taking  the  total  population,  in  1907,  we 
had  a  population  of  92,494,  with  278  deaths, 
giving  us  a  yearly  rate  of  36.07  per  thousand. 
In  1908,  we  had  a  population  of  113,269,  giv- 
ing us  202  deaths  with  a  yearly  rate  of  21.40 
per  thousand,  an  improvement  of  15  per 
thousand  in  the  rate  of  the  whole  population. 
Twenty-one  and  forty  hundredths  is  the 
lowest  rate  we  have  ever  shown  for  our  whole 
population,  and  is  about  the  rate  of  New  York 
City.  It  is  somewhat  better,  in  general,  than 
that  of  Washington,  Baltimore,  or  New  Or- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       301 

leans.  Taking  up  individual  diseases,  the 
showing  is  equally  good.  We  had  only  one 
death  among  the  employees  from  dysentery , 
two  from  malaria,  and  not  a  single  death  from 
typhoid  fever.  Among  the  8,000  white  Ameri- 
cans in  commission  quarters,  which  includes 
2,000  women  and  children,  we  had  no  deaths 
from  disease  of  any  kind."  Colonel  Gorgas 
believes  that  tropical  countries  can  be  made 
perfectly  safe  for  the  white  man  where  modern 
sanitary  methods  are  introduced. 

The  further  story  of  life-saving  through 
sanitation  in  the  Philippines  must  be  told  in 
another  chapter,  mention  being  made  here  only 
of  the  work  done  to  prevent  leprosy,  the 
plague,  and  the  hookworm  disease.  The 
segregation  of  lepers  began  in  May,  1906,  and 
has  steadily  continued.  Of  the  4,000  esti- 
mated to  exist  in  the  islands,  only  about 
1,000  remain  to  be  collected  and  transported 
to  the  Leper  Colony  at  Culion.  In  the  prov- 
inces which  have  now  been  entirely  freed  from 
lepers  more  than  300  new  cases  of  leprosy 
formerly  appeared  annually.  The  govern- 
ment reports  that  now  not  more  than  fifty 
new  cases  appear,  which  fact  alone  would  more 


302       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

than  justify  the  policy  of  segregation.  It  can 
be  positively  stated  that  not  only  has  the 
increase  in  the  number  of  lepers  been  perma- 
nently checked,  but  a  steady  decline  has  begun 
and  will  continue  if  the  present  policy  is 
adhered  to. 

That  the  government  is  determined  to  blot 
out  leprosy — Asia's  ancient  disease — is  shown 
by  the  building  and  equipping  of  an  investiga- 
tion station  at  Molokai  in  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  where  the  Territorial  Board  of  Health 
assemble  all  those  affected  with  that  disease. 
It  is  hoped  that  by  scientific  experimentations 
with  the  leprosy  bacillus,  some  way  may  be 
found  to  check  the  ravages  if  not  to  cure  those 
who  are  already  lepers. 

The  bubonic  plague  calls  for  national  aid 
for  it  is  an  imported  disease  and  the  danger  of 
spreading  beyond  the  coast  states  is  so  great 
that  all  the  forces  of  the  nation  must  be  called 
in  to  stay  its  progress.  The  plague  once  swept 
over  Europe  and  Asia,devastating  vast  regions. 
When  it  started  from  China  on  its  latest  death 
dealing  journey  it  was  met  by  the  knowledge 
that  the  only  possible  method  of  inoculation 
is  through  the  bite  of  the  flea,  from  a  rat  or 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       303 

other  rodent  afflicted  with  the  disease.  When 
the  rats  die  the  fleas  leave  the  body  and  make 
any  man  or  animal  their  host.  The  way  to 
check  the  disease  then  is  to  destroy  all  rats, 
not  only  those  on  ships  coming  from  infected 
countries,  but  every  rat  in  the  entire  nation. 

When  the  plague  reached  the  Pacific  coast, 
the  states  called  on  the  nation  to  help  in  ex- 
terminating the  rats.  The  response  was 
hearty  and  months  were  spent  in  the  warfare 
against  the  rodents  until  there  was  no  longer 
any  trace  of  the  disease  on  the  mainland. 
During  the  year  1906,  there  were  over  a  mil- 
lion cases  of  plague  in  India  with  860,000 
deaths.  China  had  500  cases  with  450  deaths, 
and  it  is  never  absent  from  a  score  of  other 
lands.  Every  ship  sailing  from  affected  ports 
is  liable  to  carry  rats  which  are  sure  to  escape 
by  the  mooring  ropes  or  in  merchandise. 
Thus  a  national  quarantine  must  be  con- 
tinuously maintained  until  all  the  world  unites 
in  destroying  the  rodents  and  with  them  the 
fleas  which  do  the  mischief. 

Millions  of  people  in  all  lands  through  all 
the  ages  have  suffered  from  anemia,  chronic 
debility,  and  lack  of  efficiency,  and  have  not 


804       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

known  the  cause.  It  is  only  recently  that  the 
discovery  was  made  that  it  is  the  parasite 
called  uncinaria  or  hookworm  in  the  intestines 
which  has  robbed  millions  of  children  in  this 
land,  in  the  Philippines,  in  Porto  Rico  and  in  all 
other  lands,  of  their  birthright  of  a  healthy 
childhood,  making  them  dwarfed  in  mind, 
prematurely  old,  and  yet  undeveloped. 

This  small  worm  after  sucking  the  blood  and 
leaving  toxin,  a  constant  poison,  lays  its  eggs 
which  are  passed  from  the  bowels;  and  in 
regions  without  proper  sanitary  conveniences 
these  eggs  are  hatched  on  the  ground  and 
when  the  children  walk  barefooted,  they  are 
bitten  by  the  little  worms,  causing  ground- 
itch.  They  pass  into  the  circulation  through 
the  lungs,  thence  into  the  stomach,  then  to 
the  intestines,  where  they  become  the  cause 
of  anemia,  making  the  child  puny  and  as  the 
disease  progresses,  showing  such  symptoms  as 
these  as  described  in  a  state  health  report: 
''The  eyes  are  a  little  swollen  when  the  child 
gets  up  in  the  morning.  Later,  the  feet  and 
legs  begin  to  swell  and  then  the  bloating  be- 
comes general.  The  protruding  abdomen  is 
tender,  shortness  of   breath  supervenes,  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       305 

whites  of  the  eyes  become  more  and  more 
blanched,  the  lips  more  and  more  livid,  the 
ears  more  and  more  translucent,  the  bloating 
more  and  more  pronounced,  the  headache 
more  and  more  constant,  the  child  more  and 
more  helpless,  till,  in  some  cases,  death  re- 
lieves the  little  sufferer;  in  others  they  con- 
tinue, not  to  live,  but  to  exist." 

It  is  recognized  that  throughout  the  United 
States  there  are  two  million  persons  afflicted 
with  this  disease  who  can  not  only  be  cured 
but  may  be  brought  back  to  normal  life  and 
efficiency  by  giving  the  patient  proper  doses 
of  thymol  to  drive  out  the  worm,  and  by  better 
sanitation,  which  will  in  the  future  prevent 
the  common  custom  of  soil  pollution  by  those 
who  are  ignorant  of  the  consequences.* 

HOOKWORM. 

♦John  D.  Rockefeller  has  recently  given  $1,000,000  for  the 
study  of  the  hookworm  disease.  This  fund  has  been  placed  in 
charge  of  a  Commission  selected  by  himself.  The  members  of 
this  Commission  include — Dr.  William  H.  Welch,  professor  of 
pathology  in  Johns  Hopkins  University;  Dr.  Simon  Flexner,  presi- 
dent of  the  American  Medical  association;  Dr.  Charles  W.  Stiles, 
chief  of  the  division  of  zoology,  United  States  public  health  and 
marine  hospital  service,  and  discoverer  of  the  American  species 
of  hookworm  and  the  prevalence  of  the  disease  in  America,  and 
Starr  J.  Murphy,  Mr.  Rockefeller's  counsel,  and  John  D. 
Rockefeller,  Jr. 


806       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Through  proper  prophylactic  measures,  our 
nation  in  co-operation  with  state  and  local 
boards  of  health,  may  in  the  next  few  years 
change  conditions  in  entire  neighborhoods, 
save  thousands  of  baby-lives  and  bring  multi- 
tudes to  greater  power  and  eflSciency  of  life. 

The  review  of  that  which  is  being  done  by 
the  nation  to  prevent  disease  and  to  build  up 
the  health  of  the  people  shows  that  this  land 
has  indeed  entered  into  the  work  of  life-saving, 
but  that  it  has  not  gone  far  enough  is  the  be- 
lief of  many  scientists  and  social  workers.  A 
committee  of  one  hundred  has  been  formed  to 
press  upon  Congress  the  necessity  of  creating  a 
new  department  to  be  formed  by  concentrat- 
ing the  health  agencies  and  functions  now 
scattered  through  the  Department  of  the 
Interior,  the  Agriculture  Department,  and 
the  Treasury  Department,  with  the  ultimate 
aim  of  forming  a  Department  of  Health  and 
Education.  Many  other  methods  now  in 
vogue  in  other  countries  might  well  be  adopted 
here.  A  permanent  committee  on  alcoholism 
ought  to  do  much  toward  finding  out  the 
facts  regarding  the  evil  results  of  the  use  of 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         307 

alcoholic  liquors  and  through  proper  publicity, 
create  a  public  sentiment  that  would  demand 
the  suppression  of  a  business  which  is  causing 
death,  disease,  and  disaster  on  all  sides. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  health  office  of  the 
City  of  Washington  might  be  transferred  to 
this  new  department  in  order  that  our  national 
capital  may  be  made  the  pride  of  the  country 
as  to  healthfulness — a  kind  of  ^'spotless  town", 
with  model  tenements,  model  street  cleaning, 
model  water  and  milk  supply,  model  system  of 
reporting  and  controlling  epidemics,  and,  as  a 
consequence  of  this,  a  death-rate  below  the 
best  records  yet  reached  in  American  cities. 
It  is  believed  that  as  a  result  of  such  a  con- 
dition at  the  national  capital,  hundreds  of 
other  cities  would  begin  to  clean  up. 

In  addition,  there  would  be  in  this  depart- 
ment of  health,  a  bureau  of  infant  hygiene, 
expert  physicians  and  scientists  devoting  them- 
selves to  research,  and  experiments,  that  they 
might  be  able  to  decrease  the  present  appalling 
waste  of  baby-life.  There  would  be  a  bureau 
of  sanitation,  and  a  bureau  of  pure  food.  It 
is  also  suggested  that  a  bureau  of  health  in- 


308       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

formation  might  be  added  as  a  sort  of  clearing 
house  where  all  the  news  of  the  various 
bureaus  would  be  given  out  to  the  public 
through  trained  and  specialized  popularizers. 
Also  a  bureau  of  research,  and  bureaus  that 
would  keep  a  national  registration  of  physi- 
cians, druggists  and  drug  manufacture,  and 
one  that  would  deal  with  problems  of  quaran- 
tine and  labor  conditions. 

We  are  rapidly  coming  to  believe  with 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  when,  speaking  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  he  said : 

**Our  national  health  is  physically  our 
greatest  national  asset.  To  prevent  any  pos- 
sible deterioration  of  the  American  stock 
should  be  a  national  ambition.  We  cannot 
too  strongly  insist  on  the  necessity  of  proper 
ideals  for  the  family,  for  simple  living  and 
those  habits  and  tastes  which  produce  vigor 
and  make  men  capable  of  strenuous  service 
to  their  country.  The  preservation  of  national 
vigor  should  be  a  matter  of  patriotism. 

"For  this  reason,  and  because  many  of  the 
problems  of  public  health  are  interstate  in 
their  character,  the  aid  of  the  federal  govern- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       309 

ment  is  necessary  to  supplement  the  work  of 
state  and  local  boards  of  health.  Federal 
activity  in  these  matters  has  already  developed 
greatly,  until  it  now  includes  quarantine, 
meat  inspection,  pure  food  administration, 
and  federal  investigation  of  the  conditions  of 
child  labor.  It  is  my  own  hope  that  these 
important  activities  may  be  still  further 
developed." 


CHAPTER  X 

Educating  the  People 

There  are  social  writers  of  late  who  place 
ignorance  as  the  chief  cause  of  human  misery. 
But  ignorance  can  be  dispelled  and  men  can  be 
enlightened  concerning  the  possibility  of  their 
physical,  mental,  moral  and  spiritual  develop- 
ment. Associations  are  being  organized  on 
every  hand  with  this  end  in  view;  for  it  is  a 
common  belief  that  the  next  decade  will  mark 
an  epoch  in  human  development  as  pro- 
nounced as  that  of  the  Reformation  or  the 
Rennaissance.  To  some  extent  the  govern- 
ment as  well  as  the  people  is  feeling  the  in- 
fluence of  this  educational  Zeitgeist, 

In  the  past  this  government  has  had  very 
little  to  do  with  the  school  system  of  the 
country,  as  school  work  was  thought  to  be 
purely  of  local  interest.  Other  nations,  like 
Germany,  might  work  out  a  great  and  yet 
harmonious  system,  but  in  the  United  States 
the  government  lacked  all  except  advisory 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        311 

power.  In  this  country,  as  it  is  well  under- 
stood, there  is  no  federal  system,  but  each 
state  of  the  Union  has  a  public  school  system, 
of  its  own,  supported  by  funds  derived  from 
its  own  resources  and  administered  by  state 
officials.  The  common  schools  do  not  re- 
ceive any  financial  aid  from  the  general 
government. 

As  to  the  development  of  the  public  school 
system,  history  shows  that  in  1836,  the  sur- 
plus revenue  in  the  United  States  Treasury 
was  divided  among  the  states  as  a  loan,  many 
of  the  states  setting  aside  their  portions  of 
this  federal  loan  for  public  education.  Before 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  became 
the  policy  of  Congress  to  grant  for  educational 
purposes  the  sixteenth  section  of  the  public 
lands  on  the  organization  of  new  territories, 
and  subsequently  both  the  sixteenth  and 
thirty-sixth  sections  were  set  aside  for  this 
purpose.  Many  of  the  newer  states  still  own 
these  lands  and  derive  school  revenue  from 
them.  Others  sold  all  or  portions  of  their 
school  lands,  creating  permanent  school  funds 
from  the  proceeds,  which  funds  are  entirely 
under  state  control. 


312       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  amount  of  permanent  school  funds  of 
each  state  varies  from  $60,000  in  New  Hamp- 
shire to  over  $60,000,000  in  Texas,  while  the 
fund  of  most  of  the  states  runs  into  the  mil- 
lions. The  various  states  show  such  marked 
differences  in  their  school  system  that  uni- 
formity can  only  be  secured  through  the 
co-operation  of  the  central  government.  This 
was  the  thought  that  led  to  the  establishment 
of  the  National  Bureau  of  Education,  the 
original  purpose  of  which  was  "to  collect 
statistics  and  facts  showing  the  condition  and 
progress  of  education  in  the  several  states 
and  territories,  and  to  diffuse  such  information 
respecting  the  organization  and  management 
of  schools  and  school  systems,  and  methods  of 
teaching,  as  shall  aid  the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  efficient  school  systems,  and  otherwise  pro- 
mote the  cause  of  education  throughout  the 
country." 

General  James  A.  Garfield  introduced  the 
bill  in  1867,  which  was  enacted  into  law,  es- 
tablishing the  Department  of  Education, 
which  three  years  later  was  transferred  to  the 
Department   of  the   Interior,   as   a   bureau. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       313 

Like  the  **general  welfare"  clause  in  the  con- 
stitution, the  words  of  the  original  act  "other- 
wise promote  the  cause  of  education  through- 
out the  country,"  give  wide  latitude  in  deal- 
ing with  all  educational  matters  as  the  country 
grows,  and  the  needs  become  more  complex. 
The  first  enlargement  of  the  Bureau  came 
in  the  Act  approved  in  1896,  authorizing  the 
Commissioner  of  Education  to  prepare  and 
publish  a  bulletin  showing  the  condition  of 
higher  education,  technical  and  industrial, 
giving  educational  facts  as  to  compulsory 
attendance  in  the  schools  and  such  other 
educational  topics  in  the  several  states  of  the 
Union,  and  in  foreign  countries,  as  may  be 
deemed  of  value  to  the  educational  interests 
of  the  states.  In  1884,  the  Bureau  was  given 
charge  of  the  education  of  the  native  children 
in  Alaska  and  in  1890  the  Bureau  established 
the  Government  Reindeer  Service  in  Alaska. 
Further  administrative  duties,  without  doubt, 
will  from  time  to  time  be  added,  if  the  Bureau 
of  Education  is  to  be  more  of  a  school  board 
than  a  literary  bureau.  Other  branches  of 
the  government  are  giving  direct  attention  to 
educating  the  people.     They  became  responsi- 


314       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

ble  for  education  in  the  Philippines,  in  Porto 
Rico,  in  Guam  and  Panama,  among  the  In- 
dians and  in  general  agricultural  education. 

In  1892,  the  government  offered  facilities  for 
study  and  research  in  departments  and  bu- 
reaus. Because  this  opportunity  for  gaining 
higher  scientific  education  is  so  little  known, 
the  entire  Act  is  here  given : 

"Whereas  large  collections  illustrative  of  the 
various  arts  and  sciences  and  facilitating  lit- 
erary and  scientific  research  have  been  ac- 
cumulated by  the  action  of  Congress  through  a 
series  of  years  at  the  national  capital;  and 

"Whereas  it  was  the  original  purpose  of  the 
government  thereby  to  promote  research  and 
the  diflfusion  of  knowledge,  and  is  now  the 
settled  policy  and  present  practice  of  those 
charged  with  the  care  of  these  collections 
specially  to  encourage  students  who  devote 
their  time  to  the  investigation  and  study  of  any 
branch  of  knowledge  by  allowing  to  them  all 
proper  use  thereof;  and 

"Whereas  it  is  represented  that  the  enum- 
eration of  these  facilities  and  the  formal 
statement  of  this  policy  will  encourage  the 
establishment  and  endowment  of  institutions 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       315 

of  learning  at  the  seat  of  government,  and 
promote  the  work  of  education  by  attracting 
students  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages 
aforesaid  under  the  direction  of  competent 
instruction ;  Therefore, 

''Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  facilities  for 
research  and  illustration  in  the  following  and 
any  other  governmental  collections  now  exist- 
ing or  hereafter  to  be  established  in  the  city 
of  Washington  for  the  promotion  of  knowledge 
shall  be  accessible,  under  such  rules  and 
restrictions  as  the  officers  in  charge  of  each 
collection  may  prescribe,  subject  to  such 
authority  as  is  now  or  may  hereafter  be  per- 
mitted by  law,  to  the  scientific  investigators 
and  to  students  of  any  institution  of  higher 
education  now  incorporated  or  hereafter  to  be 
incorporated  under  the  laws  of  Congress  or  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  to  wit : 

"Of  the  Library  of  Congress,  of  the  National 
Museum,  of  the  Patent  Office,  of  the  Bureau  of 
Education,  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  of 
the  Army  Medical  Museum,  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  of  the  Fish  Commission, 


316       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  the  Botanic  Gardens,  of  the  Coast  and  Geo- 
detic Survey,  of  the  Geological  Survey,  and  of 
the  Naval  Observatory." 

In  1901,  this  Act  was  enlarged  in  its  scope  by 
offering  opportunity  of  study,  to  individuals, 
students,  and  graduates  of  all  institutions  of 
learning,  as  follows : 

"That  facilities  for  study  and  research  in 
the  Government  Departments,  the  Library  of 
Congress,  the  National  Museum,  the  Zoologi- 
cal Park,  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  the  Fish 
Commission,  the  Botanic  Gardens,  and  similar 
institutions  hereafter  established  shall  be 
afforded  to  scientific  investigators  and  to  duly 
qualified  individuals,  students,  and  graduates 
of  institutions  of  learning  in  the  several  States 
and  Territories,  as  well  as  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  under  such  rules  and  restrictions  as 
the  heads  of  the  Departments  and  Bureaus 
mentioned  may  prescribe." 

As  the  years  go  by  there  should  be  an  in- 
creasing number  of  students  residing  at  Wash- 
ington, making  use  of  the  unequaled  oppor- 
tunities for  research  found  in  the  various  de- 
partments. 

The  last  published  report  of  Commissioner 


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Wallipai  school  boy  at  Hackberry 
Trained  in  a  government  school 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        317 

Elmer  E.  Brown,  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion, gives  a  review  of  the  great  educational 
movements,  that  are  nation-wide  in  their 
influence  which  the  commissioner  believed 
were  destined  to  leave  a  strong  impress  upon 
our  educational  history. 

The  report  places  emphasis  on  the  results 
secured  through  the  awakening  of  interest  in 
education  by  the  "whirlwind  campaigns" 
carried  on  in  the  southern  states.  These 
campaigns  had  for  their  purpose  the  increase  of 
local  taxation  for  schools.  The  great  Edu- 
cational Conference  at  Atlanta,  decidedly 
aided  the  movement  for  better  educational 
advantages,  through  consolidated  rural  schools 
and  county  high  schools,  libraries,  and  uni- 
versities and  normal  schools.  The  great 
constructive  private  organizations.  The  South- 
ern Educational  Society,  the  General  Edu- 
cational Board  and  the  Negro  Rural  School 
Fund,  have  proved  to  be  of  great  help  in  the 
educational  propaganda  in  the  southern  states. 

In  1908,  ten  weeks  before  the  calling  of  the 
celebrated  White  House  Conference  of  Gov- 
ernors, the  Commissioner  of  Education  called 
together   at   Washington   fifty   of  the  chief 


318       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

educational  officers  of  the  states  and  territories. 
The  report  of  proceedings  of  this  conference 
seems  to  indicate  that  the  meeting  is  destined 
to  mark  an  epoch  of  no  small  importance  in 
the  history  of  educational  co-operation  in 
this  country,  revealing,  as  it  did,  a  strong 
disposition  on  the  part  of  the  state  educational 
officers  to  strengthen  the  national  office  of 
education;  and  making  clear  the  aim  of  the 
national  office  to  accomplish  its  work  through 
the  assistance  rendered  to  the  state  offices. 

The  effort  to  standardize  the  public  schools 
of  the  states  received  strong  support  from  this 
conference.  Industrial  and  vocational  edu- 
cation is  well  in  the  foreground  of  popular 
discussion,  resulting  in  some  new  legislation 
and  many  new  bills  introduced  in  legislatures 
and  notably  the  Davis  bill*  in  Congress,  pro- 
viding for  national  aid  to  industrial  schools, 
the  adoption  of  which  would  give  "national 
encouragement  to  the  whole  effort  toward  in- 
dustrial education."  The  number  of  volun- 
tary, non-governmental  organizations  is  ever 
increasing.  They  aim  at  large  practical  re- 
forms, many  of  them  administrating  enormous 
endowments. 

♦See  synopsis  of  bill  in  the  Appendix. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       319 

Interest  in  education  is  international,  as 
shown  by  the  large  numbers  of  Congresses 
recently  held,  as  for  instance : 

International  Congress  on  the  Welfare  of 
the  Child,  International  Congress  for  the 
Advancement  of  Drawing  and  Art  Teaching, 
International  Congress  for  Moral  Educa- 
tion, International  Congress  of  Household 
Economy  and  Arts,  International  Congress  on 
Historical  Sciences,  Pan-American  Scientific 
Congress,  International  Congress  on  Tuber- 
culosis, International  Geographical  Congress, 
International  Congre:ss  on  Popular  Education, 
International  Congress  on  School  Hygiene. 

The  interchange  of  teachers  between  the 
secondary  schools  and  colleges  of  this  and  other 
countries  is  another  evidence  of  the  world- 
wide movement  toward  educating  all  the 
people.  Another  illustration  is  that  of  the 
teachers'  visit  to  Europe : 

"The  National  Civic  Federation,  through 
the  co-operation  of  the  International  Mercan- 
tile Marine  Company  and  of  Alfred  Mosely, 
of  London,  England,  arranged  for  a  visit  of 
five  hundred  or  more  selected  American  teach- 
ers to  inspect  the  schools  and  colleges  of  Great 


S20       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Britain  and  Ireland,  during  the  school  year, 
1908-9.  About  fifty  of  the  number  having 
sufficient  acquaintance  with  the  French  or 
German  language  to  profit  by  such  a  visit 
went  on  to  the  continent,  landing  at  Ant- 
werp. The  selection  of  teachers  was  confined 
to  those  engaged  in  elementary  and  secondary 
schools,  in  industrial  and  technical  schools  of 
elementary  and  secondary  school  grade,  and 
in  institutions  for  the  training  of  teachers." 
Out  of  all  the  many  conferences.  Congresses 
and  meetings  of  associations,  there  is  sure  to 
come  wisdom  which  will  aid  in  more  intelli- 
gently administrating  the  schooling  of  a 
nation.  The  expenditure  of  $442,000,000  on 
the  education  of  the  children,  seems  like  a 
considerable  sum,  but  large  as  it  is,  it  looks 
small  by  the  side  of  the  nation's  drink  bill  or 
even  the  tobacco  bill.  Capital  is  easily 
turned  toward  business  enterprises,  but  the 
greater  work  of  transforming  children  into 
good  citizens  does  not  secure  the  aid  that  is 
adequate.  Nineteen  million  pupils  taught  by 
475,000  teachers — there  is  both  a  debit  and  a 
credit  side  to  this  account.  A  writer  admits 
that  Dr.  Brown  can  tabulate  the  debit  side 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       321 

but  who,  he  asks,  can  ever  fill  out  the  credit 
side,  showing  the  changes  produced  in  these 
students,  their  increase  in  bodily  welfare, 
knowledge,  skill,  power,  worthy  interests  and 
noble  ideals,  for  the  returns  from  the  years' 
investments  can  not  be  made  out  in  full  until 
each  individual  for  whose  happiness  and  use- 
fulness to  the  nation  and  the  world  as  a  whole 
the  investment  has  been  made,  has  lived  his 
life,  and  finished  his  work. 

While  it  would  be  of  interest  to  follow  out 
more  fully  the  work  of  public  education,  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  that  the 
nation  itself  is  at  work  educating  at  least  some 
of  the  people. 

The  Bureau  of  Education  is  responsible  for 
the  education  of  the  native  children  of  Alaska. 
From  the  time  Russian  America  was  bought 
by  the  United  States  until  1884,  Alaska  was 
without  any  government  whatsoever;  without 
laws  by  which  life  or  property  could  be  pro- 
tected, and  without  schools.  In  1877,  the 
Presbyterian  Board  established  missions  in 
Alaska,  under  Dr.  Sheldon  Jackson.  When 
finally  the  Bureau  of  Education  was  author- 
ized to  establish  a  school  system  in  this  great 


322      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

territory,  it  sought  for  a  reliable  man,  familiar 
with  local  conditions,  to  superintend  this 
service,  and  found  him  in  the  missionary, 
Sheldon  Jackson.  Dr.  Jackson,  who  still 
remains  general  agent  of  education  in  Alaska, 
has  done  a  great  work  under  most  adverse 
circumstances  in  this  vast  territory  one-fifth 
the  size  of  the  United  States.  From  small 
beginnings,  the  schools  have  grown  in  numbers 
reaching  from  Sitka  to  the  northernmost  icy 
cap.  As  last  reported,  there  are  fifty-nine 
United  States  public  schools  for  natives  with 
seventy-three  teachers  and  an  enrollment  of 
about  3,000. 

The  use  of  liquors  on  the  part  of  the  natives, 
their  unsanitary  conditions  of  life,  the  pre- 
valence of  disease,  and  the  destruction  of 
their  fishing  and  hunting  grounds,  have 
proved  to  be  great  hindrances  in  the  way  of 
their  rapid  advancement.  In  order  to  meet 
these  conditions,  the  Commissioner  of  Edu- 
cation urges  the  passage  of  a  law,  making  the 
selling  or  giving  of  liquor  to  a  native  a  felony, 
and  that  such  a  law  be  rigidly  enforced.  The 
unsanitary  mode  of  life  is  so  general  that  only 
governmental  enforcement  of  better  laws  will 


I 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       823 

compel  the  natives  to  live  more  healthfully. 
A  recommendation  is  made  that  such  legisla- 
tion be  passed  as  will  enable  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  "to  erect  and  equip  hospitals  which 
will  serve  as  centers  for  relieving  disease  and 
destitution  and  for  furnishing  instruction  to 
native  girls  in  nursing,  and  to  employ  physi- 
cians and  nurses  for  the  management  of  these 
hospitals. 

"The  service  of  competent  physicians  and 
proper  care  in  sickness  is  one  of  the  greatest 
needs  of  the  natives  of  Alaska.  Diseases  are 
general  among  them.  The  few  statistics  that 
have  been  collected  indicate  that  in  some  vil- 
lages about  one-half  of  the  inhabitants  are 
afflicted  with  either  tuberculosis  or  syphilitic 
diseases.     Epidemics  cause  large  fatalities." 

Pending  the  building  of  such  government 
hospitals,  physicians  have  been  appointed  as 
teachers  of  certain  schools.  Other  physicians 
have  been  appointed  as  sanitary  officers  of 
districts.  Contracts  have  been  made  with 
resident  physicians  in  certain  other  regions, 
while  by  contract  the  Holy  Cross  Hospital  at 
Nome,  the  Simpson  Hospital  at  Juneau,  and 
the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital  at  Valdez,  give 


324       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

hospital  care  and  medical  treatment  to  desti- 
tute natives. 

Through  the  liberal  distribution  of  seeds 
among   the   public   school   teachers   by   the 
agents  of  Alaska  experiment  stations,  great 
progress  has  been  made  in  agricultural  in- 
struction.    Many  school  gardens  are  main- 
tained and  the  raising  of  fruits  and  vegetables 
suitable  to  the  climate  have  thus  been  greatly 
extended.     A  strong  appeal  is  made  by  the 
Bureau  of  Education  for  an  increase  in  the 
annual  appropriation  for  the  extension  of  edu- 
cation in  Alaska.     In  his  report,  Dr.  Sheldon 
Jackson,  says :  **The  United  States  day  schools 
throughout  Alaska  aim  principally   at  train- 
ing the  Alaskan  natives  in  the  use  of  the 
English  language,  in  order  to  enable  them  to 
communicate  with  the  white  population  and 
obtain  a  living  thereby.     It  is  desirable  that 
to  this  instruction  in  English  there  should  be 
added    systematic    training    in    the    various 
industries,  in  order  that  the  more  intelligent 
of  the  natives  may  become  better  enabled  to 
support  themselves.     In  northern  Alaska  the 
industries  that  could  be  introduced  into  the 
school  curriculum  are  boat-making,  sled-mak- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         325 

ing,  fish-curing,  use  of  carpenter's  tools,  and 
the  making  of  fur  clothing  and  shoes.  In 
southern  Alaska  the  forms  of  industrial  train- 
ing adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  native  popula- 
tion are  fish-curing,  boat-making,  the  manage- 
ment and  care  of  sawmills,  the  building  of 
houses,  the  raising  of  domestic  animals,  and 
the  cultivation  of  vegetables.  Epidemics  of 
measles,  smallpox,  and  diphtheria  are  frequent 
and  because  of  the  high  rate  of  mortality, 
there  are  many  orphans  in  the  Alaskan  vil- 
lages. It  would  seem  but  just  for  the  national 
government  to  protect  these  destitute  children 
by  placing  them  in  an  orphanage,  where  in- 
struction and  medical  treatment  could  be 
given  them.  This  institution,  could  be  a 
center  for  industrial  education. 

"The  question  of  the  legal  status  of  the 
natives  of  Alaska  presses  for  decision.  In 
southern  Alaska  especially,  where  schools  have 
been  in  operation  for  twenty  years,  the  natives 
have  abandoned  their  ancient  customs,  dis- 
carded their  tribal  relations,  and  have  adopted 
civilized  modes  of  living.  Many  of  them  are 
industrious,  law-abiding,  and  self-respecting. 
They  make  excellent  carpenters  and  mechanics. 


326       THE    BETTER  COUNTRY 

Many  of  them  engage  successfully  in  business 
as  traders,  storekeepers,  managers  of  sawmills 
and  fisheries,  as  pilots  and  engineers.  They 
accumulate  property  and  pay  taxes;  but, 
except  in  a  few  instances,  the  privilege  of 
citizenship  has  been  denied  them.  Legisla- 
tion granting  citizenship  to  such  Alaskan 
natives  as  are  qualified  to  receive  it,  would 
seem  to  be  extremely  desirable." 

In  1890,  Dr.  Jackson  made  a  tour  of  all  of 
the  important  villages  on  the  north  Alaskan 
and  Siberian  Shores,  making  the  journey  in 
the  revenue  cutter  Bear,  Captain  Healy  com- 
manding. A  summary  of  his  report  shows 
that  the  Alaskan  Eskimos  were  found  eking 
out  a  precarious  existence  upon  the  few  whale, 
seal,  and  walrus  that  they  could  catch,  while 
across  Bering  Strait,  in  Siberia,  but  a  few  miles 
from  Alaska,  with  climate  and  country  pre- 
cisely similar,  were  tens  of  thousands  of  tame 
reindeer  supporting  thousands  of  natives,  the 
flesh  and  milk  of  these  reindeer  furnishing 
food,  the  skin  providing  clothing,  bedding,  and 
shelter,  and  in  winter  the  use  of  the  trained 
animals  making  possible  rapid  communication 
between  the  scattered  villages. 


4> 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        327 

Both  Doctor  Jackson  and  Captain  Healy 
seemed  to  be  so  deeply  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  it  would  be  wise,  national  policy  to 
introduce  domestic  reindeer  from  Siberia  into 
Alaska  that  they  urged  the  establishment  of 
reindeer  raising  as  an  industry  in  connection 
with  the  schools  maintained  by  the  Bureau  of 
Education,  which  industry  might  aflFord  the 
Alaskan  Eskimos  an  assured  means  of  support 
and  in  the  course  of  time  advance  them  from 
nomadic  fishermen  and  hunters  to  the  position 
of  civilized,  wealth-producing  factors  in  the 
development  of  northern  Alaska. 

In  1893,  Congress  granted  the  request  and 
has  appropriated  since  from  $6,000  to  $25,000 
annually.  The  revenue  cutter  Bear  carried 
the  agents  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  back 
and  forth  between  Siberia  and  Alaska,  during 
nine  seasons  transporting  Siberian  reindeer  to 
Alaska.  Although  Dr.  Jackson  fully  realized 
that  the  work  was  exacting  in  the  extreme,  in- 
volving cruises  along  hundreds  of  miles  of 
fog-ridden,  ice-beleaguered,  uncharted  coast; 
long  delays  in  dangerous  waters;  patient  bar- 
gaining in  sign  language  with  uncouth,  un- 
civilized Siberians;  tedious  payment  for  the 


828       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

reindeer  in  barter  goods;  hard  work  in  trans- 
porting deer  in  the  Bear's  boats  from  shore 
to  ship;  discomfort  on  board  while  on  the  way 
to  Alaska,  and  much  labor  in  landing  the  deer 
on  the  Alaskan  side,  yet  he  and  his  aids  per- 
sisted in  their  labors  until  by  1902,  when  the 
total  number  of  deer  thus  imported  into 
Alaska  had  reached  the  number  of  1,280. 
After  that  date  the  Russian  government  with- 
drew its  permit.  By  the  natural  increase  of 
the  herds,  the  number  of  deer  now  in  Alaska 
is  about  1600,  increasing  annually. 

The  government  from  the  first  has  followed 
the  plan  of  loaning  small  herds,  usually  one 
hundred  in  number,  to  the  mission  stations  as 
an  equipment  for  the  industrial  training  of  the 
Eskimos,  the  loan  to  be  paid  at  the  end  of  a 
specified  period  by  an  equal  number  of  young 
deer.  In  order  to  scatter  the  deer  widely 
throughout  Alaska,  apprentices  are  taken  for  a 
given  number  of  years  at  each  station.  During 
his  apprenticeship,  each  man  is  given  thirty- 
four  reindeer  in  payment  for  services. 

The  following  rules  governing  apprentice- 
ship show  how  carefully  the  government  has 
guarded  the  interests  of  the  natives.     With 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        329 

the  approval  of  the  local  superintendent  of 
his  station,  an  apprentice  may  kill  his 
surplus  male  deer  and  sell  the  meat  for  food 
and  the  skin  for  clothing.  He  is  encouraged 
to  use  his  sled  deer  in  carrying  mails,  passen- 
gers and  freight. 

Upon  the  satisfactory  termination  of  his 
contract  of  apprenticeship  an  apprentice  be- 
comes a  herder  and  assumes  entire  charge  of 
his  herd,  subject  to  the  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  reindeer  service.  The  herder  must  then 
in  turn  train  and  reward  apprentices  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  provisions  of  the  rules  and 
regulations,  and  thus  become  an  additional 
factor  in  the  extension  of  the  enterprise. 

Under  no  circumstances  is  an  apprentice 
or  herder  permitted  to  sell  female  reindeer 
except  to  the  government  or  with  the  written 
approval  of  the  superintendent,  to  another 
native  inhabitant  of  Alaska.  The  native 
purchasing  the  reindeer  then  becomes  subject 
to  the  rules  and  regulations  regarding  the 
reindeer  service.  The  prohibition  of  the  sale 
of  female  reindeer  to  white  men  has  been 
adopted  in  order  to  insure  the  reindeer  in- 
dustry remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  natives 


330       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

until  there  is  a  sufl5cient  number  of  reindeer  in 
northern  Alaska  to  furnish  a  permanent  means 
of  support  to  the  native  population  of  that 
region. 

Upon  the  government  has  devolved  the 
work  of  educating  the  Indian.  The  century 
of  dishonor  is  drawing  to  a  close.  The  Indian 
is  now  considered  by  the  government,  more  as 
a  man  and  even  as  a  brother  than  as  a  savage 
to  be  fought  or  as  a  ward  to  be  cared  for.  The 
Indian  problem  is  being  settled  by  the  Indian 
himself  becoming  a  factor  of  our  social  life,  to 
be  given  justice  and  an  equality  of  opportunity 
by  the  side  of  the  white  man.  The  policy  of 
the  government  is  now  to  induce  the  Indian 
to  become  a  citizen  rather  than  remain  an 
alien  in  his  native  land.  This,  then,  is  the 
educational  work  of  the  nation,  not  to  give  a 
little  artificial  training  to  a  few,  who  too  often 
lose  what  little  they  have  gained  as  they  re- 
turn to  their  tribal  life  but  to  aid  all  to  assume 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  American 
citizenship,  and  thus  slowly  rise  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  equality  with  their  pale-faced 
neighbors. 

As  far  as  the  actual  work  of  the  school-room 


S* 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       331 

is  concerned,  there  are  reported  281  govern- 
ment schools,  with  an  enrollment  of  about 
26,000  pupils.  This  includes  day  and  reser- 
vation boarding  schools  and  non-reservation 
schools.  The  schools  at  Carlisle,  Pa.,  Law- 
rence, Kansas,  and  Riverside,  California,  lead 
in  numbers  among  the  non-reservation  schools, 
having  an  enrollment  respectively  of  1,000,  817 
and  699.  Owing  to  the  changed  attitude 
toward  the  Indian  and  because  of  certain 
abuses  that  had  arisen  in  securing  pupils,  the 
Commission  has  recommended  the  gradual 
closing  of  these  schools. 

A  plan  of  building  has  been  adopted  for  the 
primary  Indian  schools,  in  the  warmer  regions, 
which  has  proved  so  successful  that  it  might 
well  be  used  for  the  ordinary  school  in  the 
milder  climates  with  great  success.  In  de- 
scribing it.  Commissioner  Leupp,  says : 

"If  the  Indian  has  been  living  in  a  certain 
way  for  untold  centuries,  I  should  not  push 
him  too  rapidly  into  a  new  social  order  and  a 
new  method  of  doing  business;  I  should  pre- 
fer to  let  him  grow  into  them  of  his  own  ac- 
cord. For  one  thing,  the  children  of  the 
Indians  are  little  wild  creatures,  accustomed 


332       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

to  life  in  the  open  air,  familiar  with  the  voices 
of  nature  rather  than  the  voices  of  men,  and  I 
have  felt  that  to  imprison  them  in  closed 
houses  and  compel  them  to  do  their  school 
work  in  the  ordinary  routine  way  is  a  hardship 
which  there  is  no  need  of  enforcing  arbitrarily. 
Of  course,  it  is  impracticable  in  some  parts  of 
the  country  to  depart  very  far  from  the  com- 
mon method  of  housing  our  schools;  the 
climate  would  forbid  it,  for  example,  in  places 
where  the  winters  were  very  long  and  severe. 
But  in  a  large  part  of  the  southwest  there  has 
never  seemed  to  me  any  good  reason  why 
children  should  be  confined  in  a  closed  house 
during  the  season  of  fair  weather,  and  I  there- 
fore hit  upon  the  plan  of  having  a  few  ex- 
perimental houses  built  for  our  day  schools,  in 
which  there  will  be  the  ordinary  frame  of 
studding  and  joists  but  the  solid  woodwork 
will  come  up  only  about  as  high  as  a  wainscot 
or  chair  rail  in  an  ordinary  living  room.  The 
siding  above  that  will  be  made  of  wire  screen, 
and  the  roof  will  have  a  somewhat  wide  over- 
hang. The  plan  contemplates  also  flaps,  sail- 
cloth or  tent  canvas,  so  arranged  that  when  the 
weather  is  fair  and  only  the  ordinary  breezes 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       333 

are  blowing,  these  flaps  can  be  raised  and  leave 
the  screen  the  only  barrier  between  the  school- 
room and  the  outside  world.  In  the  brief 
passages  of  inclement  weather  which  come 
sometimes  during  the  dry  season  in  the  south- 
west, the  flaps  can  be  lowered  as  a  protection 
against  the  sand  storm,  or  rain  dash,  or  what- 
ever form  the  disturbances  may  take,  on  those 
sides  from  which  it  comes,  leaving  the  other 
sides  open  to  the  air  as  before. 

''This  plan  is  perfectly  practicable,  and  will 
appeal  to  the  mind  of  any  one  familiar  with  the 
climate  in  parts  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico 
and  southern  California.  I  cannot  help  think- 
ing that  the  greater  sense  of  freedom  which  the 
children  will  have  in  being  thus  simply  cor- 
ralled instead  of  imprisoned  will  have  a  good 
effect  even  in  the  matter  of  discipline. 

"But  there  is  still  another  reason  why  I  like 
the  open-air  schoolhouse  better  than  the 
closed  one.  Our  Indian  children  are  particu- 
larly prone  to  pulmonary  complaints.  Ever 
since  we  have  begun  clothing  the  Indians  and 
thereby  making  them  physically  more  tender, 
the  lungs  have  been  their  great  seat  of  trouble; 
and  when  one  child  has  begun  to  show  pretty 


334  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

plainly  symptoms  of  tuberculosis,  it  is  not 
only  cruelty  to  that  child  to  shut  it  up  where 
it  shall  breathe  the  inclosed  atmosphere,  but 
it  is  a  menace  to  the  other  children  with  whom 
it  is  thus  brought  into  close  and  unwholesome 
contact." 

In  order  to  check  the  spread  of  tuberculosis, 
the  Commission  has  established  many  san- 
itarium camps  for  the  younger  generation 
where  the  Indians  may  have  the  open  air  treat- 
ment and  the  best  general  care  which  is  now 
being  given  in  the  high-priced  establishments 
elsewhere. 

Mr.  Leupp  has  recently  resigned  after  over 
four  years'  most  successful  work  in  charge  of 
Indian  afifairs.  President  Taft  appointed  Mr. 
R.  G.  Valentine,  the  assistant  commissioner, 
as  his  successor.  In  an  article  in  the  Outlook, 
Mr.  Leupp  tells  the  story  of  his  work  in  treat- 
ing the  Indian  as  a  man,  the  summary  of 
which  is  as  follows :  His  first  principle  was  to 
attempt  to  mold,  not  the  Indian  adult,  but 
the  Indian  child,  his  second  was  to  give  the 
Indian,  not  instruction,  but  education;  his 
third  was  to  release  the  Indian  as  fast  as 
possible  from  tribal  and  governmental  bonds, 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  335 

and  make  him  an  individual  citizen,  and  his 
fourth  was  to  make  the  Indian  a  factor  in  his 
community.  Not  as  an  Indian  fighter  but  as  a 
Hfe-saver  and  as  a  constructive  builder  will 
Mr.  Leupp's  name  be  written  in  history.  His 
successor,  Mr.  Valentine,  is  imbued  with  the 
same  spirit  and  will  without  doubt  accomplish 
as  much  if  not  more  for  the  general  welfare  of 
the  Indian. 

Miss  Clara  D.  True,  the  wonderfully  suc- 
cessful Indian  agent  in  California,  after  most 
intimate  knowledge  of  reservation  life,  says: 
**A  spirit  of  brotherhood  which  is  felt  in  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth  is  stirring  the  heart  of  the 
nation.  The  government  is  bending  its  energy 
toward  lifting  the  Indian  to  his  feet,  so  that 
he  as  well  as  we  may  walk  in  integrity  before 
God,  following  the  footsteps  of  the  Man  of 
Galilee." 

The  Spanish-American  War  brought  to  this 
nation,  not  only  administrative  but  also  edu- 
cational problems.  Porto  Rico,  Guam  and 
the  Philippines  were  without  a  general  school 
system  and  the  language  was  alien.  With 
Cuba  the  aid  given  in  education  by  the  mili- 
tary government  was  only  temporary,  but 


336       THE  BETTER  COUNRTY 

with  the  other  countries  mentioned,  it  has 
taken  on  the  form  of  a  permanent  educational 
system. 

In  1898,  Porto  Rico  came  under  the  military 
rule  of  the  United  States.  The  island  is 
described  as  being  forty  miles  wide  by  one 
hundred  long,  a  veritable  tropical  garden,  but 
with  a  climate  tempered  by  the  trade  winds, 
making  nearly  every  day  like  a  northern  day 
in  June.  Without  forests,  every  part  of  the 
land  is  capable  of  cultivation,  even  to  the 
mountain  tops.  When  this  island  came  under 
the  new  rule  the  schools  were  few  and  poorly 
taught,  and  disease  was  widespread,  while 
syphilitic  infection  and  the  hookworm  disease 
had  enfeebled  and  rendered  anemic  many  of 
the  children.  With  less  than  six  per  cent, 
of  the  school  population  in  any  school,  the 
military  government  took  hold  of  the  problem 
of  the  schools  and  that  of  sanitation  with  great 
vigor. 

General  John  Eaton  was  sent  from  Washing- 
ton to  take  charge  of  the  schools  and  under  his 
wise  management  many  of  the  former  methods 
were  changed.  Under  the  Spanish  rule,  girls 
and  boys  were  not  allowed  in  the  same  school 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       337 

but  the  military  orders,  established  co-educa- 
tion, "also  abolished  the  fee  system  and  made 
the  schools  absolutely  free  to  all  residents  of 
Porto  Rico  between  the  ages  of  six  and  eight- 
een; fixed  the  school  year  at  nine  months  of 
twenty  days  each;  established  a  graded 
system  for  schools  in  towns;  limited  the 
number  of  pupils  for  each  teacher  to  fifty; 
provided  a  principal  where  four  schools  are 
grouped  together;  changed  the  course  of 
study  by  eliminating  the  study  of  church 
doctrine  and  religion  and  inserting  Spanish, 
English,  arithmetic,  geography.  United  States 
history,  and  civil  government,  with  music  and 
manual  training  as  minor  subjects  where 
teachers  w^ere  competent  to  instruct  in  them ; 
fixed  the  legal  qualifications  and  salaries  of 
teachers  on  a  uniform  basis  for  equal  work,  and 
required  uniformity  of  instruction  for  the 
various  classes  of  schools." 

The  military  government  came  to  an  end  in 
1900,  being  supplanted  by  civil  government. 
The  report  of  this  interesting  period  is 
as  follows:  "The  civil  duties  of  the  military 
authorities  were  performed  with  such  great 
efiiciency  on  the  whole  that  many  of  the  most 


338       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

intelligent  Porto  Ricans  and  most  Americans 
in  the  island  would  have  been  glad  to  have 
seen  the  period  of  military  rule  extended  for  a 
few  years,  until  the  Porto  Ricans  had  become 
more  familiar  with  efficient  public  administra- 
tion before  being  called  upon  to  legislate  for 
themselves  and  to  execute  their  own  laws. 
But  public  sentiment  in  the  United  States  was 
naturally  impatient  to  see  more  democratic 
institutions  established  than  are  possible  under 
military  government." 

Under  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for 
Porto  Rico,  a  system  of  schools  has  been  built 
up,  far  from  perfect,  and  yet  showing  great 
advances  during  the  single  decade,  80,000 
children  being  now  enrolled  in  the  public 
schools,  consisting  of  common  and  high 
schools,  rural  and  agricultural  schools,  and 
normal  schools.  In  order  more  quickly  to 
prepare  teachers  for  the  many  schools  to  be 
established,  the  government  early  decided 
to  send  pupils  for  special  training  to  the 
United  States,  and  w^hile  the  transports  were 
still  running,  sixty  Porto  Rican  boys  and  girls 
were  sent  to  Carlisle.  Afterwards  forty-five 
more  were  sent  to  the  same  school.   The  legis- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       339 

lature  set  aside  a  certain  sum  of  money  to 
send  to  various  schools  in  the  United  States 
annually  twenty-five  carefully  selected  young 
men  and  fourteen  young  women,  each  to  re- 
ceive a  scholarship  of  $500  a  year  for  five 
years.  Selections  are  made  from  those  who 
have  graduated  with  high  rank  from  some  one 
of  the  high  schools  of  the  island,  or  from  the 
insular  normal  school,  and  each  must  agree  to 
return  to  the  island  upon  the  completion  of 
their  studies  and  devote  four  years  to  the 
service  of  the  public  schools,  in  return  for 
proper  compensation. 

Dr.  Samuel  McCune  Lindsay,  former  Com- 
missioner of  Education  in  Porto  Rico,  in 
describing  these  students  says:  ''With  very 
few  exceptions  no  occasion  for  discipline  has 
arisen,  and  these  young  boys  and  girls  have 
proven  themselves  worthy  recipients  of  public 
aid.  Many  have  scored  most  unexpected 
academic  victories,  and  all  are  pledged  to 
return  to  Porto  Rico  to  do  their  share  in  the 
uplift  of  their  fellows." 

The  American  school  system  has  been 
thoroughly  established  on  the  Panama  zone 
to  accommodate  the  many  children  of  both 


340       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

gold  and  silver  workmen  and  natives.  Edu- 
cation in  Hawaii  is  under  the  control  of  the 
Territorial  Board,  which  enrolls  some  17,000 
in  the  public  schools,  ranging  in  nationality 
according  to  members:  Hawaiian,  Japanese, 
Portugese,  Port  Hawaiian  and  Chinese. 

The  report  of  the  Hawaiian  Commissioner 
of  Education,  describing  the  new  College  of 
Agriculture  and  Mechanical  arts,  established 
in  1907,  enumerates  the  purposes  of  the  act  as 
follows:  "To  give  thorough  instruction  in 
agriculture,  mechanic  arts,  and  the  natural 
sciences  connected  therewith,  and  such  in- 
struction in  other  branches  of  advanced  learn- 
ing as  the  board  of  regents  may  from  time 
to  time  prescribe,  and  to  give  such  military 
instruction  as  the  federal  government  may 
require.  The  standard  of  instruction  in  each 
course  shall  be  equal  to  that  given  and  re- 
quired by  similar  colleges  on  the  mainland, 
and  upon  the  successful  completion  of  the  pre- 
scribed course,  the  board  of  regents  are 
authorized  to  confer  a  corresponding  degree 
upon  all  students  who  shall  become  entitled 
thereto.  The  legislature  appropriated,  from 
the  loan  fund,   $10,000  for  the  erection  of 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       341 

buildings,  purchase  of  apparatus,  fixtures,  etc., 
and  $15,000  from  the  general  revenues  of  the 
territory,  $10,000  of  which  is  to  be  for  salaries 
and  $5,000  for  general  expenses. 

**The  Board  of  Regents  has  been  appointed, 
and  the  task  of  selecting  a  site  and  putting  the 
institution  in  working  order  is  already  under 
way.  Much  interest  has  been  manifested  by 
the  community  in  the  college,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  many  good  results  will  flow  from  it. 
With  the  aid  that  this  institution  should  re- 
ceive from  the  federal  government,  under  its 
munificent  system  of  endowing  agricultural 
colleges,  a  most  thorough  system  of  practical 
instruction  can  be  built  up,  the  equal  of  any 
that  obtains  in  our  sister  territories.  This 
being  a  subtropical  country,  the  problems  that 
will  be  presented  here  will  be  unique,  and  their 
working  out  will  be  watched  with  much  in- 
terest." 

Dewey's  victory  in  Manila  Bay  spelled 
responsibility  for  this  nation.  Either  this 
distant  colony  must  be  ruled  from  Washington 
as  a  possession  rather  than  a  co-ordinate  part 
of  a  great  federation  or  else  the  Filipinos  must 
be  trained  as  speedily  as  possible  for  inde- 


342       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

pendent  self-government.  The  latter  alter- 
native was  adopted  as  the  policy  of  the  insular 
government,  which  recognized  that  education 
was  essential  to  the  establishment  of  a  demo- 
cratic self-government.  The  bloody  victories 
of  the  army  and  navy  were  followed  by  the 
bloodless  victories  of  an  army  of  teachers.  It 
was  recognized  that  if  the  eight  million  people 
of  the  Philippines,  Pagan,  Mohammedan  and 
Christian,  speaking  many  languages,  were  ever 
to  be  amalgamated  into  one  nation  they  must 
have  a  common  language,  and  no  other  lan- 
guage w  as  so  suitable  as  the  English.  To  the 
end  of  bringing  an  English  education  to  all  the 
islands,  this  government  in  1901  sent  over 
1,000  teachers  from  the  states.  During  the 
past  eight  years,  nearly  2,500  American 
teachers  have  gone  to  the  Philippines.  To- 
day there  are  about  750  of  this  number  on  the 
field. 

Extracts  from  the  report  of  Superintendent 
Dr.  David  P.  Barrows,  Superintendent  of 
Education,  made  in  1904,  show  the  ideal  to- 
ward which  the  government  was  aiming: 
"The  aim  has  been  and  still  is  to  place  the 
elements  of  an  English  education  within  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         343 

reach  of  children  of  every  social  class  in  every 
municipality  and  every  hamlet  of  the  archi- 
pelago. During  the  past  year  a  course  of 
study  has  been  prescribed  for  these  primary 
schools  by  the  general  superintendent.  It 
covers  but  three  years  of  instruction,  which  in- 
clude three  in  the  English  language,  two  in 
arithmetic,  prefaced  in  the  first  year  by  easy 
number  work,  and  one  year  in  elementary 
geography.  In  addition  to  these  subjects 
provision  is  also  made  for  singing  and  drawing, 
for  both  of  which  the  Filipino  has  unusual 
endowment;  for  handiwork,  consisting  of 
school  gardening  and  simple  tool  work  for  the 
boys,  sewing  and  elementary  housekeeping  for 
the  girls,  for  physical  exercise;  and  for  the 
training  of  character." 

The  main  reason  for  making  the  primary 
course  so  brief  is  the  need  for  a  plan  of  study, 
fairly  complete  though  very  simple,  which  can 
be  taught  wholly  by  Filipino  teachers,  who 
themselves  have  had  but  a  limited  English 
education. 

"The  primary  course  aims  to  give  the  bare 
essentials  of  a  primary  education,  and  it  aims 
to  give  this  to  every  child  between  the  ages  of 


344        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

six  and  fourteen.  The  attendance  of  400,000 
children  in  the  primary  schools  is  the  standard 
toward  which  the  bureau  of  education  is 
aiming,  and  if  it  can  reach  this  standard  and 
maintain  it  for  a  period  of  ten  years,  there  will 
be,  broadly  speaking,  no  illiterate  youth  among 
the  Filipino  people,  but  the  entire  coming  gen- 
eration will  be  able  to  speak,  read,  and  write 
the  English  language  with  a  fair  degree  of 
accuracy  and  fluency;  will  be  able  to  make 
ordinary  arithmetical  calculations,  including 
those  operations  which  are  used  in  ordinary 
business;  will  have  fair  knowledge  of  the 
geography  of  the  Philippines  and  of  the  con- 
tinents and  countries  of  the  world;  and,  it  is 
believed,  will  have  received  a  very  beneficial 
influence  upon  their  characters  during  the 
formative  period." 

The  early  standard  of  400,000  has  been 
passed,  for  today  there  are  half  a  million 
pupils  enrolled  in  all  the  public  schools  of  the 
islands. 

The  Educational  Department  recognizing 
that  the  knowledge  of  English  is  not  the  only 
thing  necessary  in  order  to  fit  the  islands  for 
self-government,  has  adopted  the  policy  of  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       345 

extension  throughout  the  islands  of  facilities 
for  giving  education  along  the  most  practical 
lines  of  industrial,  agricultural,  and  domestic 
science  training.  In  an  address  delivered  by 
the  secretary  at  the  annual  convention  of 
division  school  superintendents,  which  was 
held  in  Manila  on  January  14  to  20,  1907,  it 
was  pointed  out  that  along  the  lines  of  purely 
academic  instruction  most  satisfactory  prog- 
ress has  been  made,  but  that  an  immense 
field  for  the  development  of  the  more  practical 
lines  of  education  still  lay  before  the  de- 
partment. 

It  was  also  shown  that  because  of  the  previ- 
ous training  and  habits  of  thought  of  the  Fili- 
pinos and  the  necessity  of  making  every 
member  of  the  community  a  self-supporting 
individual  at  the  earliest  practicable  date, 
that  it  was  necessary  to  establish  and  main- 
tain the  most  extensive  industrial  school  sys- 
tem throughout  these  islands  which  the  finan- 
ces of  the  government  would  permit.  The 
Filipino  boys  have  shown  exceptional  aptitude 
and  ability  for  acquiring  industrial  training, 
and  in  the  use  of  modern  tools  and  implements 
they  have  shown  themselves  remarkably  efii- 


346        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

cient.  The  Primary  Industrial  work  includes 
weaving,  hat-making,  drawing,  elementary 
agriculture,  woodworking  (ship  and  carpen- 
try),  elementary  pottery  and  masonry,  mak- 
ing of  rope,  cordage,  brooms,  brushes,  etc., 
for  the  boys,  and  weaving,  sewing,  cooking, 
dyeing,  bleaching,  hat-making,  and  pottery 
for  the  girls. 

In  a  recent  interview,  Mr.  B.  E.  Ingersoll, 
principal  of  the  large  Trade  School  at  Iloilo, 
is  quoted  as  saying : 

'*When  we  first  started  work  among  the 
Filipinos,  although  we  had  everything  in  the 
way  of  equipment,  we  encountered  every 
kind  of  difficulty  and  opposition.  Our  first 
year  was  very  discouraging,  for  the  natives 
refused  to  attend  school  or  even  to  show  the 
slightest  interest.  In  fact,  I  remember  during 
that  year  that  we  had  less  than  twenty-five 
pupils  in  the  entire  school.  After  the  first 
year  they  seemed  to  hunger  for  an  education, 
but  the  courses  they  pursued  were  impractic- 
able and  did  not  serve  to  help  them  in  earning 
a  living.  Again,  many  of  them  needed  money 
on  which  to  live  while  they  attended  school. 
From  this  situation  sprung  the  trade  school. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       347 

which  today  is  one  of  the  factors  in  the  de- 
velopment of  our  island  possessions  and  in  the 
happiness  and  comfort  of  its  people.  The 
trade  school  is  self-supporting  in  itself  and 
earns  a  living  for  its  students.  The  school 
takes  contracts  for  different  work  in  their 
line.  During  the  afternoon  session  of  the 
school,  it  pays  its  students,  who  are  practically 
practicing  at  their  trade,  for  piece  work.  In 
one  instance,  we  took  a  contract  for  the  making 
of  100  trunks  for  the  constabulary  police  and 
paid  the  pupils  for  their  work  in  turning  them 
out." 

Agricultural  and  industrial  schools  are  being 
rapidly  extended  among  the  non-Christian 
tribes  with  fair  success.  Filipino  students 
were  sent  by  the  government  to  the  United 
States  for  further  education.  A  number  of 
students  are  reported  as  having  finished  their 
course  with  credit,  subsequently  taking  posi- 
tions under  the  civil  service  or  as  insular 
teachers.  The  yearly  expense  of  maintaining 
these  students  in  the  United  States  is  nearly 
$100,000.  If  this  nation  has  helped  in  the 
educating  of  the  Filipino,  it  has  been  of  equal 
service   in   the   line   of   sanitation.     Disraeli 


348       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

once  wrote :  *Tublic  health  is  the  foundation , 
upon  which  rests  the  happiness  of  the  people 
and  the  power  of  the  State." 

The  general  average  health  among  the 
Filipinos  has  been  raised.  Smallpox  has  been 
checked  by  compulsory  vaccination  of  the 
entire  population,  a  disease  which  formerly 
claimed  a  toll  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
lives.  The  Bubonic  plague  has  been  kept  out 
of  the  Islands,  and  the  lepers  have  been  as- 
sembled in  one  place.  The  tropical  diseases 
are  being  studied  and  efforts  made  to  strike  at 
the  cause  of  the  age-long  plagues. 

The  question  of  higher  education  conducted 
under  Federal  authority  has  always  been  a 
dream  of  some  of  the  national  leaders.  Wash- 
ington, himself,  hoped  for  the  establishment  of 
a  great  national  university  to  be  located  in  the 
Federal  City  as  is  shown  by  an  item  in  his  will. 

Item — "I  give  and  bequeath  in  perpetuity, 
the  fifty  shares  which  I  hold  in  the  Potomac 
Company  (under  the  aforesaid  acts  of  the 
legislature  of  Virginia )  toward  the  endowment 
of  a  university,  to  be  established  within  the 
limits  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  general  government,  if  that 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       849 

government  should  incline  to  extend  a  foster- 
ing hand  towards  it.  (Signed  July  9, 1790. )" 
Those  who  did  not  believe  in  a  centralized 
government  opposed  so  strongly  the  granting 
of  any  appropriations  for  such  purposes,  that 
the  university  was  not  established. 

A  bequest  made  by  an  unknown  foreigner 
in  1826  made  it  possible  for  the  nation  to 
undertake  research  work  and  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  without  depending  upon  the  whims 
of  Congress  for  the  necessary  funds.  James 
Smithson,  an  Englishman  who  had  never 
visited  America,  and,  as  far  as  is  known,  was  not 
acquainted  with  any  Americans,  willed  his 
estate,  amounting  to  more  than  half  a  million 
dollars  to  the  United  States:  *'I  bequeath  the 
whole  of  my  property  to  the  United  States  of 
America,  to  found  at  Washington,  under  the 
name  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  an  estab- 
lishment for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  men." 

The  gift  was  accepted  and  the  establishment 
was  organized,  composed  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  Vice-President,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet,  and  the  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court.     The  administration  is 


850        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

by  a  Board  of  Regents  composed  of  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  the  Chief 
Justice,  three  members  of  the  Senate,  three 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  and 
six  citizens,  no  two  of  whom  may  be  from  the 
same  state,  though  two  must  be  residents  of 
the  District  of  Columbia.  The  executive 
officer  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute  is  the 
secretary,  chosen  by  the  Regents.  A  beauti- 
ful building  was  built  on  the  Mall,  and  situ- 
ated as  it  is  in  a  park,  this  structure  forms 
one  of  the  architectural  attractions  of  the  city. 

The  motive  underlying  the  bequest  was  the 
desire  **to  increase  knowledge;  to  stimulate 
men  of  talent  to  make  original  researches,  by 
offering  suitable  rewards  for  memoirs  con- 
taining new  truths ;  to  appropriate  annually  a 
portion  of  the  income  for  particular  researches 
under  the  direction  of  suitable  persons,"  and 
"to  diffuse  knowledge;  to  publish  a  series  of 
periodical  reports  on  the  progress  of  different 
branches  of  knowledge;  and  to  publish  occa- 
sionally separate  treaties  on  subjects  of  general 
interest." 

The  publications  of  all  these  series  are  dis- 
tributed   gratuitously    to    important    public 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       351 

libraries  throughout  the  world,  thus  aiding 
greatly  in  the  diffusion  of  knowledge.  Con- 
gress has,  from  time  to  time,  added  to  the 
duties  of  this  Institution.  It  was  made  the 
depository  for  scientific  books.  It  was  made 
the  custodian,  and  the  only  lawful  place  of 
deposit,  of  all  objects  of  art  and  of  foreign  and 
curious  research,  and  all  objects  of  natural 
history,  plants  and  geological  and  mineral- 
ogical  specimens  belonging  to  the  United 
States.  These  collections  are  known  as  the 
National  Museum. 

A  large  number  of  works  of  art  having  been 
given  the  nation,  the  Institution  was  declared 
to  be  the  National  Gallery  of  Art  and  the 
recipient  of  all  such  donations. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  establishment, 
scientific  study  of  the  American  Indian  was 
undertaken.  From  these  researches  has  grown 
the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  an  im- 
portant division  of  the  work  of  the  Institution. 
Another  Bureau  is  that  of  the  International 
Exchange,  by  means  of  which  any  scientist  of 
recognized  standing,  whether  in  the  United 
States  or  elsewhere,  may  send,  without  ex- 
pense to  himself,  any  material  of  a  scientific 


352       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

nature,  including  books,  to  any  other  scientist 
who  is  within  reach  of  the  system.  While 
not  a  federal  university,  it  is  doing  much  of 
the  work  that  would  be  done  by  such  an  in- 
stitution, having  eighty-two  men  on  its  scien- 
tific staflf. 

In  1902,  Mr.  Carnegie  gave  twelve  millions 
of  dollars  to  found  in  Washington,  in  the 
spirit  of  Washington,  a  university  without 
students,  which  "with  the  co-operation  of 
institutions  now  or  hereafter  established, 
there  or  elsewhere,  shall,  in  the  broadest 
and  most  liberal  manner,  encourage  investiga- 
tion, research  and  discovery,  encourage  the 
application  of  knowledge  to  the  improvement 
of  mankind;  provide  such  buildings,  labora- 
tories, books  and  apparatus  as  may  be  needed, 
and  afford  instruction  of  an  advanced  char- 
acter to  students  whenever  and  wherever 
found,  inside  or  outside  of  schools,  properly 
qualified  to  profit  thereby." 

Congress  approved  and  incorporated  the 
institution  in  1904.  The  work  carried  on  may 
be  divided  into  four  classes : 

First:  large  projects  whose  execution  re- 
quires  continuous   research   by   a   corps   of 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       353 

investigators  during  a  series  of  years;  second: 
small  projects  which  may  be  carried  out  by 
individual  experts  in  a  limited  period  of  time; 
third:  tentative  investigations,  carried  on  by 
young  men  and  women  who  have  shown  un- 
usual aptitude  for  research  and  have  desired 
to  pursue  specific  problems  for  one  or  two 
years ;  fourth :  the  publication  of  the  year- 
books of  the  institution  and  of  certain  works 
which  would  not  otherwise  be  readily  printed. 

In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  six  laboratories 
for  as  many  different  fields  of  investigation 
have  been  constructed  in  different  sections  of 
the  country,  and  an  administration  building 
is  in  course  of  construction  in  Washington  and 
plans  for  the  construction  of  a  vessel  specially 
designed  for  ocean  magnetic  work  have  been 
completed. 

The  following  departments  of  investigation 
have  been  established:  Department  of  Bo- 
tanical Research,  with  headquarters  at  Tucson, 
Ariz.;  Department  of  Marine  Biology,  with 
headquarters  at  Tortugas,  Fla. ;  Departments 
of  Historical  Research  and  Terrestrial  Mag- 
netism, with  headquarters  in  Washington; 
Geographical  Laboratory,  located  in  Washing- 


S54       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

ton;  Department  of  Economies  and  Sociology, 
with  headquarters  in  Worcester,  Mass. ;  Mount 
Wilson  Solar  Observatory,  in  California,  and 
the  Department  of  Meridian  Astrometry, 
which  is  now  establishing  a  temporary  ob- 
servatory in  San  Luis  in  Argentina. 

The  nation  has  devoted  much  attention  to 
agricultural  education  and  research.  Agri- 
cultural societies  were  formed  in  the  very 
beginning  of  the  United  States,  having  for 
their  object  the  handling  of  fairs  and  the  pub- 
lication of  books  and  periodicals.  In  1792,  a 
professorship  for  natural  history,  chemistry 
and  agriculture  was  established  in  Columbia, 
in  New  York  City.  During  the  next  forty 
years,  many  schools  in  which  agriculture  was 
taught  were  opened  in  various  parts  of  the 
country.  In  1853,  New  York  opened  the 
Peoples'  College,  a  state  agricultural  and  in- 
dustrial school.  Within  a  few  years,  three 
other  states  opened  agricultural  colleges. 

The  national  connection  with  agricultural 
education  began  when  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  was  formed  in  1838;  first  as  a 
division  of  the  Patent  Office  for  the  purpose 
of  distribution  of  valuable  seeds  and  plants. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       355 

and  in  1862  formally  organized  as  an  inde- 
pendent department.  The  story  of  the  edu- 
cational work  of  this  department  is  told  in  the 
annual  report.  The  Act  establishing  the  de- 
partment, defined  the  purpose  to  be,  "to 
acquire  and  diffuse  among  the  people  of  the 
United  States  useful  information  on  subjects 
connected  with  agriculture  in  the  most  general 
and  comprehensive  sense  of  that  word,  and  to 
procure,  propagate,  and  distribute  among  the 
people  new  and  valuable  seeds  and  plants.'* 
Since  its  organization,  however,  the  functions 
of  the  department  have  been  constantly  en- 
larged by  succeeding  Acts  of  Congress,  until 
they  now  include  almost  every  phase  of  agri- 
cultural research,  and  a  wide  range  of  edu- 
cational work.  The  year  in  which  the  National 
Department  of  Agriculture  was  established 
according  to  a  report  on  agricultural  education 
also  marks  the  passage  of  the  first  Morrill  Act 
"donating  public  lands  to  the  several  states 
and  territories  which  may  provide  colleges 
for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts."  This  Act  provided  for  "the  endow- 
ment, support,  and  maintenance  of  at  least 
one  college  ( in  each  state )  where  the  leading 


356       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other 
scientific  and  classical  studies,  and  including 
military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches  of 
learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  me- 
chanic arts  *  •  *  *  in  order  to  promote 
the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the 
industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and 
professions  in  life."  For  these  purposes  the 
several  states  were  granted  30,000  acres  of 
land  for  each  member  of  Congress,  the  entire 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  which  was  to  constitute 
a  perpetual  fund  yielding  not  less  than  five 
per  cent  interest.  There  have  been  granted 
by  the  federal  government,  under  the  provi- 
sions of  this  Act,  10,320,843  acres  of  land,  from 
the  sale  of  which  there  has  been  realized  the 
sum  of  $12,744,467  with  land  valued  at 
$4,858,111  remaining  unsold. 

The  passage  by  Congress  of  the  Hatch  Act 
in  1887,  granting  each  state  and  territory 
$15,000  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  agricultural  experiment  stations  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  agricultural  education  in 
the  land  grant  colleges.  The  Morrill  Act  passed 
by  Congress  in  1890  increased  the  amount  of 
the  grant  providing  an  immediate  appropria- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       357 

tion  of  $15,000  to  each  state  and  territory,  an 
increase  of  $1,000  each  year  for  ten  years, 
and  thereafter  $25,000  annually  to  be  applied 
only  to  instruction  in  agriculture,  the  mechanic 
arts,  the  English  language,  and  the  various 
branches  of  mathematical,  physical,  natural, 
and  economic  science.  Fifteen  states  have 
taken  advantage  of  this  provision,  while 
sixty-three  agricultural  institutions  receive 
from  federal  and  state  governments  an  income 
amounting  in  all  to  more  than  $10,000,000 
annually.  Experiment  stations  are  now  in 
operation  in  every  state  and  territory  includ- 
ing the  insular  possessions.  Both  the  depart- 
ment and  the  stations  open  their  laboratories 
to  students  for  research  work  while  continuing 
their  studies. 

The  work  of  the  Agricultural  Department 
in  reaching  the  farmer  and  his  family  with  the 
results  of  its  own  laboratory  work,  and  that 
of  the  experiment  stations,  is  ever  widening. 
President  Roosevelt  in  his  first  message,  said : 
"The  national  government,  through  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  should  do  all  it  can 
by  joining  with  the  state  governments  and 
with  independent  associations  of  farmers  to 


358       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

encourage  the  growth  in  the  open  farming 
country  of  such  institutional  and  social  move- 
ments as  will  meet  the  demand  of  the  best 
type  of  farmers,  both  for  the  improvement  of 
their  farms  and  for  the  betterment  of  the  life 
itself.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  has  in 
many  places,  perhaps  especially  in  certain 
districts  of  the  South,  accomplished  an  ex- 
traordinary amount  by  co-operating  with  and 
teaching  the  farmers  through  their  associa- 
tions, on  their  own  soil,  how  to  increase  their 
income  by  managing  their  farms  better  than 
they  were  hitherto  managed.  The  farmer 
must  not  lose  his  independence,  his  initiative, 
his  rugged  self-reliance,  yet  he  must  learn  to 
work  in  the  heartiest  co-operation  with  his 
fellows,  exactly  as  the  business  man  has  learned 
to  work;  and  he  must  prepare  to  use  to  con- 
stantly better  advantage  the  knowledge  that 
can  be  obtained  from  agricultural  colleges, 
while  he  must  insist  upon  a  practical  curri- 
culum in  the  schools  in  which  his  children  are 
taught." 

Concerning  instruction  in  meteorology,  the 
chief  of  the  Weather  Bureau  reports  as  follows : 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       359 

"A  steady  increase  of  interest  in  meteorological 
education  is  manifest  throughout  the  country, 
as,  in  fact,  throughout  other  civilized  nations. 
In  general,  instruction  in  meteorology  is  con- 
sidered as  a  part  of  the  courses  in  geology, 
geography,  or  physical  geography;  but  in  two 
universities,  George  Washington  and  Cornell, 
courses  have  been  offered  in  the  higher 
mathematics  and  physics  that  constitute  the 
fundamental  basis  of  meteorology. 

**During  1907,  there  were  fourteen  universi- 
ties, colleges,  and  scientific  schools  in  which 
regular  courses  of  instruction  were  given  by 
Weather  Bureau  officials,  and  in  five  or  six 
more  the  matter  was  in  abeyance.  Also  there 
were  at  least  forty  officials  besides  those  con- 
ducting the  above  mentioned  courses  who 
gave  occasional  lectures  or  addresses." 

The  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry 
reports  on  the  distribution  of  seeds  for  school 
gardens  as  follows:  **The  school-garden  work 
which  has  heretofore  been  conducted  by  the 
office  of  the  horticulturalist  has  been  con- 
siderably enlarged  during  the  present  year. 
The  work  of  supplying  flower  and  vegetable 


360       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

seed  to  teachers  of  the  rural  schools  was  ex- 
tended to  every  state  in  the  Union  save  two, 
namely,  Arkansas  and  Nevada.  The  four 
states  which  received  the  greatest  number 
were  New  York,  Illinois,  Maryland,  and 
Massachusetts  in  the  order  named.  The 
extent  of  this  work  can  be  seen  when  it  is 
stated  that  the  number  of  individual  gardens 
which,  if  planned  on  the  basis  suggested  in 
Farmer's  Bulletin,  No.  218,  could  be  main- 
tained with  the  seed  furnished  aggregates 
36,173  flower  gardens  and  31,480  vegetable 
gardens.  In  addition  to  the  seed,  5,102 
decorative  collections,  consisting  of  ten  va- 
rieties of  annual  flowering  plants,  have  been 
distributed  to  these  schools.  The  total  num- 
ber of  packets  of  flowers  and  vegetable  seed 
sent  out  for  school  purposes  was  388,285.  It 
is  evident  from  these  figures  that  there  is  a 
very  general  interest  in  the  school-garden 
work,  and  as  the  demand  increases  each  year 
it  is  believed  that  a  very  important  edu- 
cational want  is  being  met." 

The  Forest  Service  has  sent  thousands  of  its 
publications  to  teachers  and  school  oflSicers  and 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       361 

has  recently  published  a  valuable  circular  on 
forestry  in  the  Public  Schools.  The  Service  is 
now  co-operating  with  the  Office  of  Experi- 
ment Stations  in  preparing  exercises  in  forestry 
for  elementary  and  secondary  schools. 

Many  agricultural  high  schools  have  re- 
cently been  established,  recognizing  the  teach- 
ing of  agriculture  as  one  of  the  important 
branches  of  industrial  education.  Federal 
aid  has  been  sought  for  the  establishment  of 
industrial  schools  in  the  several  states,  many 
bills  have  been  introduced,  but  they  are  mostly 
embodied  in  the  Davis  Bill,*  still  pending  in 
Congress.  This  bill  provides  for  national  aid 
to  industrial  schools,  not  more  in  number  than 
one  for  each  district  of  five  counties,  nor  less 
than  one  for  each  district  of  fifteen  counties  in 
each  of  the  states,  on  condition  that  the  schools 
shall  be  otherwise  adequately  supported  by 
the  states  in  which  they  are  located.  The 
measure  takes  account  of  all  three  kinds  of 
industrial  training,  but  the  emphasis  is  placed 
upon  agriculture. 

The  Agricultural  Department  is  not  only 
teaching  the  boys  and  girls  but  it  is  also  teach- 

♦See  Appendix  for  text  of  Davis  Bill 


362       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

ing  the  adults  to  farm,  and  this  includes  home 
culture  as  well  as  crop  culture.  The  women  as 
well  as  the  men  are  taught  by  experts  at  all  of 
the  farmers'  institutes. 

Booker  Washington,  in  a  recent  magazine 
article,  speaking  of  the  new  work  of  education, 
says:  "If  I  were  to  name  a  single  instance  of 
this  new  policy  of  taking  education  to  the  man 
on  the  job,  an  instance  which  seems  to  me  to 
be  more  thorough-going  and  more  fruitful  of 
good  than  any  other  of  which  I  know,  I  should 
refer  to  the  work  that  the  General  Education 
Board  is  doing  in  conjunction  with  the  Agri- 
cultural Department  at  Washington  in  order 
to  instruct  the  farmers  of  the  South,  by 
practical  demonstrations  on  their  own  farms, 
J  ft  the  newer  and  better  methods  of  cultivat- 
ing the  soil.  No  other  single  agency,  I  am 
sure,  is  destined  to  do  more  in  the  task  of 
creating  the  New  South. 

"It  has  compelled  the  farmer,  the  mechanic 
and  the  doctor  to  go  back  to  school  to  become 
students,  and  to  retain  the  student  habit  in 
reference  to  the  practice  of  their  trades  and 
professions. 

"On  the  other  hand,  the  same  need  has  com- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       363 

pelled  the  universities  and  the  schools  to  go 
outside  of  their  walls  in  order  to  reach  the 
masses  of  the  people.  It  is  responsible  for 
the  night-schools  and  the  university  extension 
work  and  the  correspondence  schools  of  all 
kmds." 

"It  is  a  significant  fact,"  says  Dr.  Brown, 
Commissioner  of  Education,  **that  our  more 
recent  educational  movements  are  taking 
much  more  adequate  account  of  the  body  on 
the  one  hand,  and  of  the  supreme  concern  of 
human  life  or  moral  life  upon  the  other  hand." 


CHAPTER  XI 


Transforming  Foreigners  into  Fellow  Citizens 

Each  ship  doth  bring  them ;  see  where  lost  they  stand 

In  huddled  groups,  and  stare  from  side  to  side 

Upon  the  curious  crowds  whose  looks  deride 

Their  peasant  faces,  garments  strange  that  brand 

Them  aUens;  in  their  far-off  native  land 

Each  had  his  place,  though  himible;  here  the  tide 

Sweeps  him  along,  an  animal  dull-eyed, 

Patient,  submissive.    What  mysterious  hand 

Haa  thus  uprooted  from  their  ancient  place 

These  myriad  exiles,  cast  them  on  our  shore, 

And  what  the  purpose?    Shall  our  country  be 

The  crucible  of  nations  whence  a  race 

Shall  issue  in  dim  ages  to  restore 

God's  image  to  mankind,  and  make  men  free? 

William  Aspemvall  Bradley.     (Oct,  'OQ-American) . 

The  real  Americans  came  to  this  land  in  the 
cabin  of  the  Mayflower  and  landed  on  Ply- 
mouth Rock — yes,  and  they  are  also  coming 
in  the  unspeakable  steerage  of  every  ship 
which  lands  its  motley  crowd  at  Ellis  Island. 

The  only  native  Americans  were  the  red 
men,  who  stood  with  wondering  eyes  and 
welcomed  the  newcomers  from  many  lands. 
There  never  has  been  a  time  when  this  was  a 
white  man's  country  with  common  ideals  and 


M:m: 


THE   BETTER  COUNTRY      365 

a  universal  language.  The  nation,  its  people, 
and  its  language  have  always  been  in  the 
making,  for  new  elements  have  been  con- 
stantly introduced.  If  the  earlier  settlers 
were  English,  they  were  quickly  followed  by 
Dutch,  German,  Spanish,  French,  African, 
each  with  its  own  national  offering  for  the 
composite  life  of  the  new  nation.  John  Alden, 
Roger  Williams,  John  Smith,  William  Penn, 
Peter  Stuyvesant,  down  to  the  latest  Vasili 
KorbsofiF  just  landed  from  Russia — each  of 
these  came  with  an  added  contribution  to  the 
common  life. 

There  are  those  who  would  put  up  the  bars 
against  all  except  the  Celt,  the  Briton,  the 
Teuton,  the  Scandinavian,  but  the  Semitic, 
the  Slavic,  and  the  Latin  peoples  have  quali- 
ties which  are  needed  to  complete  a  full 
rounded  national  life.  A  student  of  racial 
characteristics,  says:  "We  shall  be  a  more 
versatile,  a  more  plastic  people,  gentler  in  our 
thoughts  and  feelings  because  of  the  Alpine 
strain;  livelier  and  brighter,  with  a  higher 
power  to  enjoy  the  beautiful  things  of  life, 
because  of  the  Latin  blood.  We  may  doubt- 
less learn  courtesy  from  many  an  Italian; 
virtue  from  many  a  Slav;  family  loyalty  from 


5> 


366       THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

many  a  Jew;  the  beauty  and  the  refining  in 
fluences  of  music  from  many  a  Hungarian. 

The  question  of  restriction  of  immigration 
is  not  one  of  shutting  out  European  races, 
but  of  denying  entrance  to  the  dependent  and 
defective  individuals  from  all  the  nations. 
As  President  Roosevelt  well  said,  "We  cannot 
have  too  many  good  immigrants,  and  we  do 
not  want  any  bad  ones." 

A  million  aliens  coming  to  our  ports  each 
year  will  prove  too  great  a  number  for  proper 
assimilation  unless  better  methods  of  selection 
are  applied,  and  greater  effort  is  put  forth  to 
train  the  new  Americans  in  the  ideals  of 
democracy.  Yet  quantity  will  be  no  menace 
if  the  quality  of  immigration  is  up  to  the 
standard.  Quantity  will  be  no  menace  if 
those  who  are  already  here  will  teach  the 
newcomers  that  we  are  brothers  all  in  the 
building  of  a  great  nation.*     Selection,  re- 

♦IMMIGRATION  BY  DECADES,  1820  to  1906,  INCLUSIVE. 

1820 8,385 

1821  to  1830 143,439 

1831  to  1840 599,125 

1841  to  1850 1,713,251 

1851  to  1860 2,511,060 

1861  to  1870 2,377,279 

1871  to  1880 2,812,191 

1881  to  1890 6,246,613 

1891  to  1900 3,687,564 

1901  to  1906 4,933,811 

Total 24.032,718 


THE   BETTER  COUNTRY       367 

ception,  education,  these  are  great  words, 
embodying  great  ideas,  suggesting  the  neces- 
sary steps  in  the  nation's  work  of  transforming 
foreigners  into  fellow  citizens. 

The  history  of  the  regulation  of  immigra- 
tion only  records  the  restrictive  measures  of 
the  last  quarter  century  of  our  nation's  life. 
For  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  federal  con- 
stitution, the  Fathers  regarded  this  republic 
as  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  all  nations, 
and  the  good  and  the  bad  were  equally  wel- 
comed. To  check,  in  a  measure,  the  entrance 
of  the  criminal  classes,  an  act  regulating  the 
"carriage  of  passengers,"  referring  to  ocean 
passengers,  was  passed  in  1819.  But  until 
after  the  Civil  War,  Congress  left  the  actual 
control  of  immigration  to  the  various  sea- 
board states,  which  made  no  efiFort  to  unify 
their  laws.  A  comparatively  small  amount 
of  harm  resulted  from  this  lack  of  system, 
because  these  immigrants  coming  largely  from 
the  north  of  Europe  were  destined  for  the 
farms  of  the  newer  west  rather  than  the  in- 
dustrial and  mining  centers  as  in  later  times. 

The  Civil  War  so  checked  the  immigration 
of  the  foreigners  that  special  efforts  were  put 


368         THE   BETTER    COUNTRY 

forth  to  encourage  their  coming.  President 
Lincoln,  during  our  Civil  War,  in  his  third 
annual  message  (1863),  referring  to  the 
subject  of  immigration,  said:  '*I  again  submit 
to  your  consideration  the  expediency  of  es- 
tablishing a  system  for  the  encouragement  of 
immigration.  Although  this  source  of  national 
wealth  and  strength  is  again  flowing  with 
greater  freedom  than  for  several  years  before 
the  insurrection  occurred,  there  is  still  a 
great  deficiency  of  laborers  in  every  field  of 
industry,  especially  in  agriculture  and  in  our 
mines,  as  well  of  iron  and  coal  as  of  the  pre- 
cious metals.  TMiile  the  demand  for  labor  is 
much  increased  here,  tens  of  thousands  of 
persons  destitute  of  remunerative  occupation 
are  thronging  our  foreign  consulates  and  offer- 
ing to  emigrate  to  the  United  States  if  essen- 
tial, but  very  cheap,  assistance  can  be  afforded 
them  ♦  ♦  •  ♦  This  noble  offer  demands  the 
aid,  and  ought  to  receive  the  attention  and 
support,  of  the  government." 

Again,  in  his  fourth  annual  message  (1864 ), 
he  said :  "I  regard  our  immigrants  as  one  of 
the  principal  replenishing  streams  which  are 
appointed  by  Providence  to  repair  the  ravages 


.l:£i± 


THE   BETTER  COUNTRY         369 

of  internal  war  and  its  waste  of  national 
strength  and  health.  All  that  is  necessary  is 
to  secure  the  flow  of  that  stream  in  its  present 
fullness  and  to  that  end  the  government  must 
in  every  way  make  it  manifest  that  it  neither 
needs  nor  designs  to  impose  involuntary  mili- 
tary service  upon  those  who  come  from  other 
lands  to  cast  their  lot  in  our  country." 

Later  the  evident  necessity  for  restriction 
of  coolie  immigration  and  contract  labor 
called  for  the  laws  of  1869,  1873  and  1875. 
The  first  real  immigration  law  was  passed  in 
1882,  the  Supreme  Court  having  decided  that 
this  question  was  one  to  be  settled  by  the 
federal  rather  than  state  legislation.  In  the 
practical  administration  of  this  law,  the  nation 
allowed  the  states  to  perform  the  work  with 
federal  co-operation.  National  supervision  of 
immigration  was  fully  secured  by  the  law  of 
1891,  and  the  machinery  for  the  enforcement 
of  the  law  was  set  in  motion.  Owing  to  the 
industrial  depression  which  followed,  there 
was  a  widespread  feeling  of  hostility  toward 
the  immigrant,  finding  voice  in  the  demand 
for  an  "illiteracy  test,"  which  was  enacted 
into  law  by  Congress  in  1896,  but  vetoed  by 
President  Cleveland. 


870       THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

The  law  of  1903,  added  further  restrictive 
measures,  increasing  the  head  tax  to  $2.00, 
excluding  many  more  classes  of  persons  and 
requiring  the  deposit  of  the  ships'  manifests 
containing  full  information  concerning  the 
immigrant. 

In  1903,  the  supervision  of  immigration  was 
transferred  to  the  new  Department  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor,  and  later  the  administra- 
tion of  the  naturalization  laws  was  added  to 
the  work  of  this  Bureau.  In  1907,  after 
much  discussion,  a  new  Act  was  passed  by 
Congress,  which  gave  the  government  in- 
creased powers  in  supervision  and  selection, 
although  it  left  many  loop-holes  which  must 
be  stopped  later. 

It  is  well  to  know  the  important  provisions 
of  this  law  in  order  to  judge  of  its  effectiveness. 
This  law  raises  the  head  tax  to  $4.00,  although 
the  original  bill  made  the  amount  five  dollars 
instead  of  four.  This  head  tax  is  to  be  paid 
to  the  collector  of  the  port  by  the  master  of 
the  vessel.  The  tax  becomes  a  lien  on  the 
ship  until  paid.  This  forms  an  "immigrant 
fund  to  be  used  to  defray  the  expense  of  regu- 
lating immigration,  the  salaries  of  officers  and 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       371 

clerks,  and  all  other  expenses  incurred  in  en- 
forcing the  laws.*    That  this  head  tax  might 

*The  financial  statement  of  the  immigrant  fimd  for  a  year  is 
shown  in  the  following  which  is  a  statement  of  the  receipts  and 
expenditures  on  account  of  the  immigrant  fund  for  the  fiscal  year 
July  1,  1907,  to  June  30,  1908,  and  balance  on  hand,  June  30. 

Balance  shown  in  report  for  fiscal  year  1907 $3,079,515 .26 

Special  appropriations  not  heretofore  deducted ....    1,259,529 .  13 

Total 1,819,986.13 

Amount  advanced  to  Immigration  Commission, 

fiscal  year,  1907 75,000.00 

$1,744,986.13 

Appropriation  "Enforcement  of  the 
Chinese-Exclusion  Act,"  1908 500,000.00 

Appropriation  "Immigrant  Station, 
Charieston,  S.  C 70,000.00 

Appropriation  "Immigrant  Station, 
Galveston,  Tex." 70,000.00 

Appropriation    "Immigrant    Station, 

New  Orleans,  La." 70,000.00 

Appropriation  "Immigrant  Station, 
Philadelphia,  Pa."    250,000.00 

Reimbursement,   Public   Health   and 

Marine  Hospital  Service 150,000.00 

Addition  to  old  Hospital  building,  Elhs 
Island    250,000.00 

Additional  buildings  contagious-dis- 
ease hospital,  Ellis  Island 150,000 .  00 

New  Water  main,  ElHs  Island  ........    18,000 .  00 

Mechanical  equipment,  contagious- 
disease  hospital,  Ellis  Island 115.000.00 

Immigration  Commission 75,677.14 

Amount  of  special  appropriations  to  be 
reimbursed  from  the  "immigrant 
fund." 1,718,677.14 

26,308.99 
Receipts,  fiscal  year,  1908 2,600,000.00 

2,526,308.99 
Expenditures,  fiscal  year,  1908 1,975,391 .  95 

Balance  June  30, 1908 $550,917.04 


372       THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

well  be  increased  to  ten  dollars  is  the  thought 
of  certain  experts,  this  increase  to  be  made, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  restriction  but  rather 
to  reimburse  the  government  for  the  cost  of  an 
increased  force  of  employees,  and  to  cover  all 
expenses  incurred  before  individual  immigrants 
become  self-supporting. 

The  provisions  of  this  law  regarding  the 
excluded  classes  are  strong  enough  if  thor- 
oughly enforced  to  keep  most  of  the  undesir- 
able immigrants  from  landing  on  our  shores 
or  remaining  to  become  a  burden  to  the  na- 
tion.* 

A  recent  decision  of  the  Commissioner  of 


Causes  of  rejection. 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

Idiocy 

16 

33 
4,798 
1,560 

35 

9 

3 

1,501 

38 

92 

7,898 
2,198 

39 

24 

4 
1,164 

92 

139 
7,069 
2,273 

205 

30 

« 
2 
2,314 

29 

189 
6,866 
3,822 

341 

18 

1 
1,434 

20 

Imbeciles 

45 

Feeble-minded 

121 

Insanity  (including 

epileptics ) 

184 

Pauperism 

3,741 

Contagious  diseases 

Tuberculosis 

2,900 
53 

Criminality 

136 

Prostitution   (and  in  1908 
other  like  immorality)  . . 

Procuring  or  importing  pros- 
titutes, etc 

124 
43 

Contract  laborers 

1,932 

During  year  ending  June  30,  1910,  25,000  were  denied  admis- 
sion while  1,041,570  were  admitted. 


THE   BETTER   COUNTRY       373 

Immigration  extends  this  act  to  apply  to  the 
possession  of  a  certain  amount  of  money. 
"Certain  steamship  companies  are  bringing  to 
this  port  many  immigrants  whose  funds  are 
manifestly  inadequate  for  their  proper  sup- 
port until  such  time  as  they  are  likely  to  ob- 
tain profitable  employment.  Such  action  is 
improper  and  must  cease.  In  the  absence 
of  a  statutory  provision,  no  hard  and  fast  rule 
can  be  laid  down  as  to  the  amount  of  money 
an  immigrant  must  bring  with  him,  but  in 
most  cases  it  will  be  unsafe  for  immigrants 
to  arrive  with  less  than  twenty-five  dollars 
in  addition  to  a  railroad  ticket  to  destination; 
while  in  many  cases  they  should  have  more. 
They  must,  in  addition,  of  course,  satisfy 
the  authorities  that  they  will  not  become 
charges  upon  either  public  or  private  charity.'* 

If  the  steerage  "pays  the  ship,"  then  is  it 
any  wonder  that  there  has  been  in  the  past  a 
great  scramble  for  the  passage  money  of  the 
immigrant.f^  The  steamship  companies,  with 
ships  flying  a  foreign  flag,  thought  first  of  the 
dollar,  so  that  quantity  rather  than  quality 
became  their  aim. 

By   glowing   advertisements    and   by    the 


374      THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

personal  eflForts  of  their  agents,  immigration 
was  unduly  stimulated.  As  long  as  this  emi- 
gration meant  the  opportunity  of  freeing  their 
lands  of  dependents  and  delinquents,  many 
countries  not  only  acquiesced  but  secretly 
aided  the  transportation  companies  in  the 
effort  to  increase  the  size  of  the  ships'  mani- 
fests. 

This  secret  encouragement  of  emigration  has 
given  place  to  a  policy  of  restriction  on  the 
part  of  most  of  the  European  nations,  for  they 
have  discovered  that  the  emigration  of  thou- 
sands of  stalwart  young  men  is  a  financial  loss 
inasmuch  as  their  going  has  greatly  reduced 
the  number  fitted  for  military  service  or  for 
industrial  or  agricultural  life.  Another  reason 
for  restriction  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
deported  immigrant  is  returned  not  to  his 
home,  but  to  a  port  often  far  from  his  native 
village,  thus  filling  the  ports  with  paupers  and 
possible  criminals,  every  one  becoming  an 
added  burden  to  the  state. 

In  addition  to  the  free  transportation  of 
the  deported  immigrants  by  the  steamship 
companies,  under  the  new  law  these  com- 
panies  are    fined    $100    for    bringing  to  the 


THE   BETTER   COUNTRY       375 

United  Staes  any  alien  who  is  an  idiot,  im- 
becile, epileptic,  afflicted  with  tuberculosis  or 
with  any  loathsome  or  dangerous  contagious 
disease,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  such  disease  or 
disability  could  have  been  detected  before 
sailing.  Because  of  this  provision,  more  care- 
ful inspection  is  made  by  the  transportation 
companies,  and  yet  because  of  the  passage 
money,  the  temptation  is  always  present  to 
take  great  risks  in  hope  that  individuals  care- 
fully coached  to  answer  questions  may  be 
able  to  pass  the  inspectors  at  Ellis  Island. 
The  equipment  and  management  of  Ellis 
Island  is  well  nigh  perfect,  but  with  several 
thousand  immigrants  daily  passing  through, 
little  time  is  given  for  a  sufficiently  careful 
individual  inspection.  That  the  inspection 
and  selection  should  be  made  before  sailing  is 
self-evident,  yet  thus  far  but  one  country  has 
granted  this  privilege.  Physicians  from  the 
U.  S.  Marine  Hospital  Service  are  welcomed 
as  inspectors  in  the  ports  of  Italy,  for  that 
nation  has  a  special  care  for  all  of  its  emi- 
grants, constantly  sending  officials  to  every 
foreign  colony,  and  reporting  conditions  to 
their  government. 


376       THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

There  are  those  who  insist  that  even  foreign- 
port  inspection  is  not  enough,  but  that  there 
should  be  located  an  inspection  station  in 
every  important  center  that  none  need  be 
misinformed  or  drawn  away  from  home  with- 
out assurance  of  entrance  to  the  United  States. 
This  inspection  service  might  be  maintained 
even  in  an  unwilling  country  by  a  provision 
denying  entrance  to  any  aliens  except  those 
who  bore  clean  bills  from  such  local  inspectors. 
This  extra  expense  could  be  met  from  the  in- 
creased head  tax.  Until  such  a  system  is 
established,  the  government  is  compelled  to 
maintain  a  force  of  secret  service  men  espe- 
cially to  see  that  the  steamship  companies  do 
not  break  the  law  regarding  the  soliciting  of 
trade,  to  watch  the  procurers  of  women,  and 
to  keep  a  check  on  those  who  are  seeking  to 
import  contract  labor. 

The  necessity  for  strict  enforcement  of  the 
Contract  Labor  Law  is  revealed  in  the  con- 
stant effort  on  the  part  of  employers  of  labor 
to  import  foreigners  in  order  to  reduce  the 
wage  or  to  take  the  place  of  strikers.  Nat- 
urally the  labor  unions  are  opposed  to  such 
importation  of  alien  labor  as  tending  to  lower 


^r,l 


THE   BETTER   COUNTRY       377 

the  standard  of  living.  That  they  have  high 
authority  for  their  desire  to  maintain  a  high 
standard  is  certain,  for  President  Taft  is 
reported  to  have  said  in  a  recent  speech: 
"There  is  a  higher  standard  of  living  among 
American  laborers  than  in  any  country  in  the 
world,  and  while  there  doubtless  have  been  a 
good  many  other  reasons  for  this,  certainly 
the  eflFect  of  the  organization  of  labor  has  been 
to  maintain  the  steady  and  high  rate  of  wages, 
making  such  a  standard  of  living  possible." 

The  Bureau  of  Immigration  thus  urges  the 
necessity  for  the  continuance  of  the  contract 
labor  law:  "So  long  as  healthy,  honest,  and 
industrious  laborers,  either  unskilled  or  skilled, 
seek  this  country  impelled  by  no  other  motive 
than  a  desire  to  better  their  condition,  by 
availing  themselves  of  a  natural  demand  for 
their  services,  no  one  is  entitled  to  complain, 
but  the  moment  that  the  migration  of  any 
class  of  laborers  is  induced,  encouraged,  or 
assisted  by  the  prospective  employer,  there  is 
an  encroachment  upon  that  principle  essen- 
tial to  the  protection  of  our  own  institutions 
and  standards  of  living  and  constituting  the 
very  marrow  of  the  alien  contract  labor  legis- 
lation, which  requires  that  preference  shall  be 


378      THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

given  by  the  employer  to  our  own  labor  market 
in  the  selection  of  his  employes  and  that  a 
foreign  source  of  supply  shall  be  resorted  to 
only  in  case  of  absolute  necessity,  and  even 
then  solely  by  the  statutory  means." 

Many  criminals  and  otherwise  undesirable 
immigrants  escape  U.  S.  inspection  at  ports 
of  entry,  by  traveling  as  stowaways  and  by  de- 
serting in  American  ports  from  ships  on  which 
they  were  employed  as  sailors.  This  apparent 
failure  in  the  law  must  be  remedied  if  we  are 
to  cope  successfully  with  the  "Black  Hand,'* 
and  with  the  fugitives  from  justice  from  many 
lands.* 

♦Deserting  alien  seamen,  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1908.  By 
ports. 

New  York,  N.  Y.,  6,942;  Boston,  Mass.  (Spain  and 
France  not  included)  217;  Baltimore,  Md.,  284;  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.,  1,278;  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  586;  San  Juan,  P.  R. 
1:  Brunswick,  Ga.,  54;  Eureka,  Cal.,  6;  Femandina,  Fla.,  22; 
Galveston,  Tex.,  264;  Gloucester,  Mass.,  6;  Gulf  port,  Miss.,  393; 
Jacksonville,  Fla.,  8;  Key  West,  Fla.,  3;  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  110; 
Mobile,  Ala.,  220;  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  15;  New  Orleans,  La., 
782;  Norfolk,  Va.,  247;  Pascagoula,  Miss.,  135;  Pensacola,  Fla., 
279;  Portland,  Me.,  9;  Portland,  Greg.,  488;  San  Diego,  Cal.,  34; 
Savannah,  Ga.,  159;  Seattle,  Wash.,  570;  Tampa,  Fla.,  64; 
Honolulu,  Hawaii,  50;  Alaska,  9.     Total,  13,235. 

Stowaways  found  on  board  vessels,  arriying  at  ports  of  the 
United  States,  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1908.    By  ports: 

New  York,  N.  Y.,  344;  Boston,  Mass.,  33;  Baltimore,  Md.,  29; 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  31 ;  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  6;  San  Juan,  P.  R.,  4; 
Galveston,  Tex.,  18;  Gulfport,  Miss.,  1;  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  3; 
Mobile,  Ala.,  1;  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  6;  New  Orleans,  La.,  26; 
Norfolk,  Va.,  and  vicinity,  3;  Pascagoula,  Miss.,  3;  Pensacola, 
Fla.,  1;  Portland,  Me.,  4;  San  Diego,  Cal.,  6;  Savannah,  Ga.,  5; 
Seattle,  Wash.,  16;  Honolulu,  Hawaii,  93.    Total,  633. 


THE   BETTER   COUNTRY       379 

The  three-years'  clause  in  the  immigration 
laws,  making  it  possible  to  deport  alien  women 
found  in  houses  of  ill-fame  or  practicing  pros- 
titution, made  it  possible  to  strike  a  severe 
blow  at  a  great  evil,  but  a  recent  decision  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  declares 
the  law  unconstitutional.  The  fact  that  three 
of  the  judges  dissented  from  the  opinion  of  the 
court,  gives  hope  that  the  apparent  defect 
may  be  remedied  in  the  near  future. 

Our  government  has  tardily  subscribed  to  an 
international  arrangement  for  the  suppression 
of  the  white  slave  traflSc*  The  countries  now 


♦INTERNATIONAL   AGREEMENT   ON   WHITE    SLAVE 
TRAFFIC. 

Article  1.  Each  of  the  contracting  governments  agrees  to 
establish  or  designate  an  authority  who  will  be  directed  to  cen- 
tralize all  information  concerning  the  procuration  of  women  or 
girls  with  a  view  to  their  debauchery  in  a  foreign  country;  that 
authority  shall  have  the  right  to  correspond  directly  with  the 
similar  service  established  in  each  of  the  other  contracting  states. 

Article  2.  Each  of  the  governments  agrees  to  exercise  a  super- 
vision for  the  purpose  of  finding  out,  particularly  in  stations, 
ports  of  embarkation  and  on  the  journey,  the  conductors  of 
women  or  girls  intended  for  debauchery.  Instructions  shall  be 
sent  for  that  purpose  to  the  officials  or  to  any  other  qualified 
persons,  in  order  to  procure  within  the  limits  of  the  laws,  all  in- 
formation of  a  nature  to  discover  a  criminal  traffic. 

The  arrival  of  persons  appearing  evidently  to  be  the  authors, 
the  accomphces  or  the  victims  of  such  a  traffic  will  be  communi- 


380      THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

included  in  the  agreement  are  Great  Britain, 
France,  Germany,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Spain, 
Italy,  The  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Russia, 
Sweden,  Norway,  Switzerland,  and  the  United 
States.  As  a  further  method  of  restricting 
this  fearful  traffic  the  Commissioner  of  Immi- 
gration suggests  that,  "it  would  be  highly 
advantageous  in  the  endeavor  to  break  up  the 
white-slave  traffic  to  make  it  a  felony  or  mis- 
demeanor punishable  by  imprisonment  for  an 
alien  once  deported  from  the  United  States 
as  a  procurer  of  prostitutes  or  as  a  prostitute 
again  to  return  to  the  United  States,  and  the 
alien  to  be  deported  at  the  expiration  of  the 
term  of  imprisonment.     It  is  highly  necessary 

cated  in  each  case,  either  to  the  authorities  of  the  place  of  desti- 
nation, or  to  the  interested  diplomatic  or  consular  agent,  or  to 
any  other  competent  authorities. 

Article  3.  The  governments  agree  to  receive,  in  each  case, 
within  the  limits  of  the  laws,  the  declarations  of  women  and  girls 
of  foreign  nationahty  who  surrender  themselves  to  prostitution, 
with  a  view  to  establish  their  identity  and  their  civil  status  and  to 
ascertain  who  has  induced  them  to  leave  their  country.  The 
information  received  will  be  communicated  to  the  authorities  of 
the  country  of  origin  of  said  women  or  girls,  with  a  view  to  their 
eventual  return. 

The  governments  agree,  within  the  limits  of  the  laws,  and  as 
far  as  possible,  to  confide  temporarily  and  with  a  view  to  their 
eventual  return,  the  victims  of  criminal  traffic,  when  they  are 
without  any  resources,  to  some  institutions  of  public  or  private 


THE   BETTER   COUNTRY         381 

that  this  diabolical  traflSc,  which  has  attained 
international  proportions,  should  be  dealt 
with  in  a  manner  adequate  to  compass  its 
suppression.  No  punishment  is  too  severe 
to  inflict  upon  these  procurers  who  prey  upon 
womanhood. 

In  administering  the  law,  the  department  is 

charity  or  to  private  individuals  furnishing  the  necessary  guar- 
antee. 

The  governments  agree  also,  within  the  limits  of  the  law,  to 
return  to  their  country  of  origin  such  of  said  women  or  girb  who 
ask  to  be  so  returned  or  who  may  be  claimed  by  persons  having 
authority  over  them.  Such  return  will  be  made  only  after  reach- 
ing an  understanding  as  to  their  identity  and  nationaUty,  as  well 
as  to  the  place  and  date  of  their  arrival  at  the  frontier.  Each  of 
the  contracting  parties  will  faciUtate  their  transit  over  its  ter- 
ritory. 

Correspondence  relative  to  the  return  (of  such  women  or  girls ) 
will  be  made,  as  far  as  possible,  through  direct  channels. 

Article  4.  In  case  the  woman  or  girl  to  be  sent  back  cannot 
herself  pay  the  expenses  of  her  transportation  and  she  has  neither 
husband,  nor  relations,  nor  guardian  to  pay  for  her  expenses 
occasioned  by  her  return,  they  shall  be  borne  by  the  country  in 
whose  territory  she  resides  as  far  as  the  nearest  frontier  or  port 
of  embarkation  in  the  direction  of  the  country  of  origin,  and  by 
the  country  of  origin  for  the  remainder. 

Article  5.  The  provisions  of  the  above  Articles  3  and  4  shall 
not  infringe  upon  the  provisions  of  special  conventions  which  may 
exist  between  the  contracting  governments. 

Article  6.  The  contracting  governments  agree,  within  the 
limits  of  the  law,  to  exercise,  as  far  as  possible,  a  supervision  over 
the  bureaus  or  agencies  which  occupy  themselves  with  finding 
places  for  women  or  girls  in  foreign  countries. 


382       THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

frequently  embarrassed  by  the  fact  that  an 
alien  woman  of  the  immoral  class  refused  ad- 
mission at  a  port  or  arrested  within  the  coun- 
try for  deportation  may,  by  marrying  an 
American  citizen,  invest  herself  with  his 
status  and  defeat  the  purpose  of  the  law.  To 
overcome  this  difficulty,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  add  to  the  Naturalization  Act  a  pro- 
vision that  the  marriage  of  an  alien  woman  to 
an  American  citizen  shall  not  be  regarded  as 
conferring  upon  such  woman  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  citizenship  in  this  country  unless 
she  is  a  person  of  good  moral  character. 

The  multitudes  from  all  nations  are  coming 
to  our  shores.  We  cannot  close  the  gates. 
We  can  restrict,  but  even  then  nearly  one 
million  a  year  of  aliens  will  land  at  our  ports 
while  one-third  of  that  number  will  yearly 
return  to  their  native  land.  Our  duty  then 
as  citizens  is  to  know  these  people  better,  so 
that  we  can  more  easily  educate  and  assimi- 
late the  new  Americans.  We  must  know 
these  people  before  they  leave  their  homes. 
Already  a  number  of  social  workers  have 
traced  certain  streams  of  immigration  to  their 
source.     They  have  lived  in  the  humble  homes 


:i-:: 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       383 

in  the  mountain  valleys;  they  have  studied 
the  religion  and  the  ideals  of  these  peasants, 
and  by  their  descriptive  writings  furnished 
the  information  which  makes  it  possible  for 
us  in  America  to  deal  with  these  newcomers, 
not  as  "dagoes"  or  "hunkies,"  but  as  men  and 
women,  capable  of  high  attainment,  recogniz- 
ing that  each  nationality  has  its  offering  of 
music  or  art  or  methods  of  agriculture,  which 
will  make  the  nation  richer.  Prof.  Steiner's 
pilgrimage  with  a  number  of  young  men  from 
Pennsylvania  we  hope  may  be  extensively 
copied.  The  members  of  this  group  journeyed 
to  the  villages  and  mountain  towns  of  Italy 
and  eastern  Europe,  lived  in  the  homes  of  the 
peasants,  thus  gaining  a  knowledge  of  the 
language  and  customs  of  the  people,  which 
will  prove  of  great  service  to  them  as  later 
they  take  up  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  at  home 
among  the  foreign  young  men  in  the  industrial 
and  mining  districts  of  their  state. 

What  are  the  sources  of  the  great  river  of 
immigration?  A  student  of  this  subject  re- 
ports his  conclusions:*  "The  immigrants  en- 
ter America  in  two  great  streams.     One  has 

Herbert  Francis  Sherwood,  in  OiUlook,  June  6, 1908. 


384  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

its  rise  among  the  historic  hills  of  Palestine  and 
receives  tributaries  from  the  ports  of  Greece, 
the  Adriatic,  Italy  and  the  Azores.  Its  course 
lies  over  the  blue  waters  of  the  Mediterranean 
and  between  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  The 
other  stream  trickles  across  Russia  to  the 
shores  of  the  Baltic  and  German  border.  In 
ancient  Poland  and  on  the  wooded  slopes  of 
the  Carpathian  Mountains  the  chief  tributaries 
have  their  source.  These  are  made  up  of 
Slavic  men  who  have  toiled  long  on  the  land 
without  making  headway ;  of  kerchiefed  maids 
and  matrons  of  the  same  race  who  have 
roughened  their  fingers,  their  faces,  and  their 
voices  in  the  fields  and  go  in  search  of  husbands 
or  to  join  them,  and  well-nigh  destitute  Jews 
attempting  to  escape  from  their  poverty  and 
political  persecution  at  the  same  time.  Across 
Germany,  in  well-worn  converging  courses, 
these  rivers  of  humanity  take  their  way  to  the 
ports  of  the  North  Sea — Hamburg,  Bremen, 
Rotterdam,  and  Antwerp.  As  the  broad 
stream  sets  out  over  the  waters  of  the  North 
Atlantic  it  is  joined  by  the  Scandinavians, 
English,  Welsh,  Scotch,  and  Irish." 

But  why  do  so  many  leave  the  farms  and 


THE   BETTER   COUNTRY    385 

vineyards  of  Calabria,  and  Sicily,  of  Mon- 
tenegro and  the  Trans-Caucasus,  and  the 
many  far  off  regions  of  eastern  Europe? 

In  the  earlier  days  it  was  the  potato  famine 
which  sent  the  Irish  away  from  the  Emerald 
Isle.  So  in  other  lands,  every  returning  fam- 
ine or  war  or  over-taxation  has  sent  a  multi- 
tude to  these  shores  of  plenty.  The  pogrom 
at  Kishineff  and  the  "May  Laws"  stimulated 
Jewish  immigration  beyond  measure.  The 
glowing  picture  of  work  and  wealth  in  the 
New  World,  set  over  against  the  poverty  of  the 
land  and  the  cheapness  of  labor  in  the  Old 
World,  sent  the  young  men  on  their  long  pil- 
grimage across  the  water. 

That  this  was  a  stimulated  immigration  is 
evident  to  every  student.  The  steamship 
companies  used  every  art  known  to  the  ad- 
vertiser in  order  to  fill  their  steerage.  All 
sorts  of  agencies  were  used  that  the  most 
remote  of  the  mountain  villages  might  be 
reached  with  the  good  news  of  free  land  and 
well-paid  labor  far  across  the  sea.  The  new 
law  has  forbidden  this  activity,  yet  ways  are 
still  found  by  which  the  glowing  stories  of 
wealth  in  America  are  put  in  circulation  among 
the  simple  peasants. 


386  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

But  stimulated  immigration  though  vast  in 
amount  does  not  equal  in  numbers  that  large 
class  of  aliens  who  are  led  to  undertake  the 
long  voyage  to  America,  because  assisted  by 
friends  or  relatives,  who  are  already  here. 
Usually  the  strong  men  of  a  village  are  the  first 
to  emigrate  to  the  New  World,  but  the  wives 
and  sweethearts  left  behind  soon  receive  the 
passage  ticket  made  possible  by  the  higher 
wages  in  the  land  of  opportunity.  The  glowing 
descriptive  letters  sent  from  America  are  read 
to  the  eager  listeners  in  the  far-away  villages. 
The  padrones  and  the  bankers  encourage  the 
sending  home  of  American  publications  printed 
in  foreign  languages.  The  installment  ticket, 
tempts  the  immigrant  to  put  all  of  his  spare 
wages  into  passage  money  for  the  old  folks  at 
home.  One  Russian,  coming  from  the  Trans- 
Caucasus  to  Los  Angeles,  six  years  ago,  was 
the  means  of  bringing  to  that  city  4,000  of 
his  co-religionists,  with  all  of  the  25,000  of  the 
remaining  ones  of  their  religious  sect  waiting 
for  an  opportunity  to  leave  Russia  without  a 
passport  and  make  the  long  journey  to  the 
Pacific  shore. 

No  doubt  many  have  come  to  this  land  be- 


THE   BETTER   COUNTRY       387 

cause  of  the  opportunity  for  religious  liberty 
denied  at  home,  yet  few  have  even  heard  of 
our  Declaration  of  Independence.  A  simple 
economic  reason  led  the  greater  number  to 
break  with  the  past.  An  opportunity  for 
labor  and  a  chance  to  gain  more  of  the  good 
things  of  this  life  for  themselves  and  their 
families  were  the  usual  reasons  why  the  immi- 
grant peasants  were  willing  to  desert  their 
poverty-stricken  farms  in  Europe.  Because 
of  possible  wealth  in  the  future,  they  gladly 
sold  the  few  acres  of  their  ancestral  homes  and 
exchanged  the  familiar  labor  of  the  farm  for 
the  harder  and  more  hazardous  jobs  on  the 
railroads,  in  the  tunnels,  mines,  factories,  or 
sweatshops  of  America. 

They  are  coming  by  the  ship-load,  these 
peasants,  and  artisans  of  an  older  land.  We 
may  check  the  flow  but  we  cannot  stop  it. 
Having  used  every  effort  possible  in  the  way 
of  selection  on  the  other  side,  rigidly  enforcing 
the  laws  against  stimulated  and  assisted  immi- 
gration, placing  tried  and  true  men  as  watch- 
ers of  the  gate  that  the  inspection  may  be 
well-nigh  perfect;  deporting  everyone  to  whom 
the  law  denies  entrance,  although  that  process 


388       THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

may  be  tragic,  when  we  have  done  all  this 
still  there  will  remain  nearly  a  million  a  year 
to  be  added  to  our  population.  But  the 
optimist  is  not  discouraged  at  that.  The 
problem  is  half  solved  when  you  have  analyzed 
it.  The  disease  is  well  in  hand  when  a  diag- 
nosis is  made  by  the  attending  physician. 
That  many  leaders  of  thought  are  hopeful 
for  the  future  is  shown  by  words  like  these 
from  some  who  are  nearest  the  people.  Jacob 
Riis  says:  "As  I  have  seen  them  mix  ore 
from  far  distant  mountains  in  the  great 
blast-furnaces  of  Pennsylvania,  in  order  that 
the  product  may  get  just  the  right  kind  of 
strength  and  quality,  so  it  may  be  that  to  this 
recasting  of  the  race  to  make  a  people  fit  for 
the  great  destiny  which  we  must  believe  the 
Almighty  has  marked  out  for  the  great 
American  Republic,  there  need  go  men  of  all 
peoples  and  all  lands,  of  the  old  and  of  the 
new  dispensations." 

What  will  these  foreigners  do  to  America 
when  they  get  the  power .'^  Prof.  Edward  A. 
Steiner  answers:  "They  will  help  you  save  it 
or  they  will  aid  you  in  destroying  it.  It  is  as 
much  in  your  power  whether  they  shall  be 
leaven'  or  ^dynamite'.'* 


m 


THE   BETTER   COUNTRY       389 

The  people  of  Montenegro,  Poland,  Hun- 
gary and  Italy  are  worth  the  knowing.  "If 
struggle  for  liberty  means  anything  in  the 
character  of  a  nation,  then  these  people  have 
character;  for  their  fields  are  drenched  in 
martyrs'  blood.  Where  in  Hungary  the  pop- 
py grows  reddest,  or  in  Italy  the  figs  are  most 
luscious,  there  the  common  people  have  shed 
their  blood  heroically." 

Mr.  David  Blaustein,  of  the  Chicago  He- 
brew Institute,  speaking  of  the  people  he 
knows  so  well,  says:  "The  immigrant  comes  to 
this  country  from  a  land  of  despotism  and  op- 
pression, and  finds  America  willing  to  allow 
him  to  indulge  a  broad  view,  freedom — in 
short,  new  life.  He  is  the  dreamer,  the  idealist, 
and  loves  America  by  contrast.  He  finds  op- 
portunity to  develop  and  adopt  the  American 
customs,  traditions,  and  spirit  with  an  eager- 
ness that  is  absolutely  wanting  in  the  Ameri- 
can native,  who  looks  on  these  privileges  as 
his  natural  rights." 

Another  lover  of  the  immigrant,  writes: 
"When  he  comes  to  the  land  of  the  rich,  the 
Italian  will  bring  gifts  beyond  price,  memories 
of  beauty,  of  gray  cliflfs  above  a  purple,  ever- 


390      THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

changing  sea,  of  a  coast  the  loveliest  in  the 
world;  and  more  precious  than  memories,  he 
brings  a  beauty-loving  nature  and  a  joyous 
spirit.  He  does  not  know  as  he  comes  with 
eager  looks  toward  his  land  of  desire  that 
more  than  he  needs  our  freedom  to  work,  do 
we  need  these  gifts  he  brings." 

As  one  who  has  spent  many  years  as  a 
neighbor  to  a  multitude  of  aliens,  the  writer 
wishes  to  record  his  belief  in  the  immigrant, 
in  the  possibility  of  Americanizing  him  in  the 
best  sense  of  being  able  to  transform  him 
from  a  menace,  to  our  civilization  to  an  aid 
in  giving  the  best  to  those  who  come  later. 

Granted  proper  selection,  inspection,  depor- 
tation, there  yet  remains  a  great  work  to  be 
done  in  order  to  transform  the  foreigners  into 
fellow-citizens,  and  this  larger  service  finds 
expression  in  the  words,  "protection,  educa- 
tion and  distribution."  These  last  three 
nouns  represent  America's  new  duties  to  the 
alien.  If  the  nation,  as  a  whole,  undertakes 
this  work  as  heartily  as  she  has  that  of  trans- 
forming a  desert  into  a  garden,  of  breeding 
cattle  of  a  higher  standard,  or  of  educating 
the  people  of  the  Insular  Possessions,  then 


JHE  JBETTER  COUNTRY       891 

will  the  multitude  be  prepared  for  citizen- 
ship, and  a  larger  brotherhood  will  be  real- 
ized as  the  principles  of  democracy  are  trans- 
lated into  life. 

The  foreigner  has  been  slow  to  assimilate 
for  he  has  for  the  most  part  met  our  civilization 
in  the  rough.  The  worst  side  of  all  men  was 
toward  him,  giving  him  a  false  ideal  of  Ameri- 
can life.  The  slum  was  too  often  his  only 
home,  and  this  evil  environment  wrought 
havoc  to  his  old  time  ideals  of  family  life. 
His  American  neighbors  too  often  met  him 
with  suspicion  and  hatred.  The  padrone 
first,  and  then  the  American  contractor  were 
ready  to  exploit  his  labor,  the  only  thing 
which  he  had  to  give.  His  teachers  were  the 
ward  politicians,  the  saloon  keepers,  or  pos- 
sibly the  policemen.  He  was  shown  how  to 
become  a  full-fledged  citizen  within  a  few 
months,  at  a  time  when  American  citizenship 
was  exchanged  for  votes  or  money.  No 
matter  what  his  standing  might  be  in  the 
old  country,  be  he  merchant,  artist,  artisan, 
or  farmer,  here,  because  of  his  foreign  tongue, 
he  could  be  only  a  hewer  of  wood  and  a  drawer 
of  water,  the  servile  laborer  in  the  building  of 


392         THE   BETTER    COUNTRY 

a  new  nation.  The  "good  people"  of  the 
church  and  school  were  not  in  touch  with 
him,  but  rather  looked  upon  the  foreigners  as  a 
distinct  class,  separated  from  them  by  a  great 
gulf.  They  were  willing  to  send  a  missionary 
to  teach  them,  but  did  not  wish  to  have  too 
close  personal  contact.  Who  is  to  blame 
that  we  have  slums,  and  our  courts  and  jails 
are  filled  with  aliens  branded  as  criminals? 
We,  who  have  been  too  good  to  touch  these 
strange  people,  can  largely  blame  ourselves 
for  they  needed  us  as  teachers — they  called 
us,  and  we  sent  a  proxy. 

The  immigrant  is  well  protected  in  the  great 
receiving  stations,  being  given  the  most 
careful  attention  at  every  step  of  the  way, 
from  the  gangplank  to  the  gateway  which 
opens  outward  toward  the  nation.  When 
the  gate  swung  open,  the  nation  thought  that 
its  work  was  done,  but  this  is  the  very  point 
where  the  work  of  the  new  day  must  commence. 
A  great  governmental  plan  must  be  worked 
out,  a  plan  for  protection,  education,  distri- 
bution. A  start  has  been  made  but  the  best 
thought  of  the  nation  must  be  given  in  order 
properly  to  develop  this  plan  to  its  highest 
efficiency. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        393 

Protection — how  can  the  immigrant  be 
protected  after  leaving  the  battery  or  boarding 
a  train.  Thus  far  many  homes  and  philan- 
thropic societies  have  aided  in  saving  thou- 
sands who  might  otherwise  have  been  robbed 
of  Hfe  or  money  or  character.  The  govern- 
ment has  given  permission  for  representatives 
of  these  societies  to  labor  with  the  immigrants 
within  the  enclosure  of  Ellis  Island,  where  the 
society  for  the  Protection  of  Italian  Immi- 
grants, the  Industrial  Removal  OflBce,  and  a 
score  of  other  social  or  religious  organizations 
are  doing  a  wonderful  work  with  these  people 
who  are  as  helpless  as  children  when  landing  in 
America.  This  is  well,  but  there  ought  to  be 
a  national  protective  policy. 

In  discussing  the  protection  of  immigrant 
women,  a  writer  says:  "Many  girls  do  not 
stop  in  New  York  and  so  come  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  watchful  societies.  Suppose 
a  girl  has  a  through  ticket  to  Chicago.  The 
responsibility  of  the  government  ends  when 
she  is  safely  on  the  train,  and  the  railway  is 
not  held  responsible  for  her  safe  arrival. 
Suppose  she  loses  her  address,  or  the  street 
number  is  wrong,  or  her  friends  fail  to  meet 


894      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

her,  or  have  moved,  or  any  one  of  fifty  things 
that  may  break  the  connection,  has  happened! 
Suppose  a  procurer  meets  her  on  the  train 
( as  they  do )  and  she  is  induced  to  go  with  him? 
Her  friends  and  relatives  are  anxiously  await- 
ing her,  and  the  government  is  not  aware  that 
she  is  lost.  How  long  will  it  be  before  both 
begin  to  look  for  her  together? 

"At  present  nothing  is  done  by  the  state  or 
federal  government  to  meet  this  great  defect. 
The  states  do  not  know  who  are  coming  into 
them  to  live,  or  under  what  conditions.  They 
make  no  effort  to  get  into  touch  with  the 
immigrants  or  help  them  to  become  citizens. 
What  more  simple  than  for  each  state  to  have 
its  department  or  bureau,  and  to  receive  from 
the  federal  government  the  names  and  addres- 
ses of  all  immigrants  coming  in,  to  visit  them 
and  put  forth  an  effort  to  make  them  into 
citizens  ?  How  else  can  the  compulsory  educa- 
tion law  be  enforced,  when  there  are  hundreds 
of  children  coming  in  who  are  never  on  the 
school  roll  and  cannot  be  traced?  How  else 
can  the  child  labor  laws  be  enforced,  when 
children  slip  from  the  station  to  the  factory 
and  are  reported  above  the  age  which  they 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY      395 

may  look  to  be  ?  The  ship's  manifest,  with  the 
ages,  would  enlighten  many  duped  inspectors 
if  the  state  had  a  copy  of  it  from  the  federal 
ports.  Such  bureaus  could  also  cooperate 
with  other  states  and  notify  them  of  removals." 

This  may  as  truly  be  said  of  men,  for  the 
exploiters  of  the  labor  of  men  and  boys  are 
as  eager  for  their  victims  as  are  the  procurers 
of  women. 

Granted  that  the  matter  of  selection,  res- 
triction and  protection  of  immigrants  will 
soon  be  well  in  hand,  the  problem  of  immigra- 
tion from  now  on  becomes  essentially  one  of 
distribution.  If  a  decade  ago  a  wise  plan  of 
scattering  the  newcomers  had  been  resorted 
to,  many  of  the  evils  of  the  present  day  would 
have  been  avoided,  but  without  a  plan  the 
ports  of  entry  became  congested  centers,  a 
menace  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  nation 
and  a  detriment  to  the  character  and  health 
of  the  aliens  themselves. 

This  country  cannot  afford  to  have  a  large 
proportion  of  the  new  citizens  swallowed  up 
by  the  lower  east-side  of  New  York.  The 
rest  of  the  land  needs  the  new  blood,  the 
brawn  and  the  brains  of  these  who  are  seeking 


396      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

our  shores.  How  can  this  distribution  be 
effected?  The  various  philanthropic  socie- 
ties, social  and  religious,  with  headquarters 
in  New  York  have  sent  many  thousands  to 
distant  parts  of  the  country.  The  Jewish 
Industrial  Removal  Office,  for  instance,  is 
thoroughly  organized  with  correspondents  in 
every  city  and  with  travelling  agents,  yet 
in  nine  years  they  have  persuaded  less  than 
50,000  persons  to  remove  from  New  York. 
But  62,000  Jews  arrived  at  Ellis  Island  during 
1908,  of  which  44,000  remained  in  the  city, 
almost  as  many  as  were  removed  in  the  nine 
years  of  the  work  of  the  Office.  It  is  evident 
that  something  more  than  this  must  be  done. 
Something  on  a  large  scale  must  be  undertaken 
or  else  the  Ghetto  will  rule  the  city  and  the 
Jew  himself  will  degenerate. 

The  desire  of  some  of  the  states,  especially 
in  the  South,  to  secure  desirable  immigrants 
ofiFers  a  new  opening  for  distribution.  Desir- 
ing to  aid  this  movement,  the  government 
allows  properly  accredited  agents  of  the  states 
to  work  at  Ellis  Island  among  the  new  arrivals. 
The  South  offers  a  splendid  field  for  the  alien 
peasant  with  its  millions  of  fertile  acres  await- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  S97 

ing  intensive  cultivation.  Many  immigra- 
tion societies  have  been  formed  in  a  score  of 
states.  In  describing  the  work  done  by  one 
of  these  societies,  in  North  Carolina,  Mr. 
Hugh  Macrae  says:  "The  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  has  shown  a  willing- 
ness to  co-operate  actively  with  the  state 
department  in  this  work.  From  the  knowledge 
obtained  from  the  government  soil  experts 
other  men  were  trained  as  experts,  and  surveys 
and  maps  were  made  of  more  than  six  hundred 
square  miles  of  land.  The  reports  of  the  soil 
experts  exceeded  our  expectations.  Options 
were  taken  on  large  areas  which  were  best 
suited  for  the  purpose  of  colonization.  After 
the  titles  were  examined  and  accepted  by 
competent  attorneys,  corps  of  engineers  were 
put  in  the  field  to  make  surveys,  drainage 
plans,  and  layouts  for  farming  communities 
and  town  sites.  This  required  about  two 
years'  work  of  a  large  force  of  men. 

"In  the  meantime,  agents  were  sent  abroad 
to  study  the  sources  of  immigration,  and  the 
best  manner  of  directing  the  immigrants  to 
the  desired  locality.  Demonstration  farms 
were  started  so  that  the  first  arrivals  could 


898  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

be  shown  the  best  methods  under  the  new 
conditions.  The  ditching,  clearing,  and  fenc- 
ing were  first  done  by  negro  labor,  and  later 
by  the  colonists  as  they  arrived.  A  good 
superintendent,  who  was  a  skilled  agriculturist* 
was  placed  in  charge  of  each  colony,  even 
when  it  contained  only  two  or  three  families. 
As  the  cost  of  preparing  for  and  securing  the 
first  arrivals  was  enormous,  it  seemed  wise 
to  nurse  them  with  the  greatest  care. 

"The  Italian  colony  was  started  with  seven 
families  from  Northern  Italy.  They  were 
chosen  from  a  district  in  the  province  of  Vene- 
tia,  and  it  may  be  interesting  to  know  that 
our  agent,  upon  investigation,  found  from  the 
records  that  no  serious  crime  had  been  commit- 
ted in  this  district  for  more  than  four  hundred 
years.  To  this  can  be  added  the  statement 
that  at  St.  Helena  in  three  years  there  has 
not  been  a  single  lawless  act.  Five  colonies 
have  been  established,  with  Italians  at  St. 
Helena,  Hungarians  and  Hollanders  at  Castle 
Hayne,  Poles  at  Marathon,  Germans  at  New- 
berlin,  and  Hollanders  and  Poles  at  Artesia.'' 

That  it  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the 
nation  that  the  immigrants  be  scattered  over 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  399 

a  wide  area  in  order  to  hasten  the  process  of 
assimilation,  has  long  been  evident  to  students 
of  the  immigration  problems,  yet  it  was  not 
until  February  26,  1907,  that  an  eflFort  was 
made  to  embody  this  thought  in  law.  Section 
40  of  the  revised  immigration  laws,  passed  at 
that  date,  established  a  Division  of  Informa- 
tion, in  the  Bureau  of  Immigration.  The 
law  reads  as  follows: 

"It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Division  to 
promote  a  beneficial  distribution  of  aliens 
admitted  into  the  United  States  among  the 
several  states  and  territories  desiring  immigra- 
tion. Correspondence  shall  be  had  with  the 
proper  oflScials  of  the  states  and  territories, 
and  said  Division  shall  gather  from  all  available 
sources  useful  information  regarding  the  re- 
sources, products,  and  physical  characteristics 
of  each  state  and  territory,  and  shall  publish 
such  information  in  diflferent  languages  and 
distribute  the  publications  among  all  admitted 
aliens  who  may  ask  for  such  information  at  the 
immigrant  stations  of  the  United  States  and 
to  such  other  persons  as  may  desire  the  same." 

All  persons  interested  in  the  subject  of 
immigration  should  study  this  law  very  care- 


400         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

fully  for  it  seems  to  offer  the  solution  of  a 
vexed  question,  since  in  the  carrying  out  of 
of  the  work  of  the  Division  lie  great  possibili- 
ties for  effective  service  and  for  the  enlarge- 
ment of  national  aid,  not  alone  to  the  aliens 
but  also  to  Americans  in  need  of  economic 
assistance.  Terrence  V.  Powderly  was  ap- 
pointed chief  of  this  Division,  and  immediately 
undertook  the  organization  of  the  work, 
although  the  hard  times  greatly  hindered 
effective  work.  His  methods  used  to  find 
labor  and  cheap  land  that  the  immigrants 
might  be  widely  distributed  are  reported  by 
him  in  substance  as  follows: 

Letters  were  sent  to  each  governor  and  to 
other  state  officials  asking  for  such  informa- 
tion as  they  had  to  give  relative  to  the  possi- 
bilities in  each  state.  Letters  were  also  sent 
to  manufacturers'  associations  and  individual 
employers  of  labor  and  to  labor  unions,  en- 
closing this  list  of  questions : 

Where  is  the  demand  for  workmen  most 
urgent? 

What  class  of  labor  is  needed? 

Are  settlers  on  land  needed? 

What  nationalities  or  races  would  be  pre- 
ferred? 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  401 

Does  your  state  (or  territory )  offer  induce- 
ments to  settlers  on  lands? 

If  strikes,  lockouts  or  other  diflSculties 
exist,  state  fully  the  cause  of  the  same. 

The  answers  returned  gave  much  available 
information. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Bureau  of 
Statistics  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 
the  township  correspondents  of  that  Depart- 
ment to  the  number  of  35,000  returned  infor- 
mation on  blank  forms  and  these  were  filed 
in  the  oflBce  for  further  use. 

The  editors  of  all  agricultural  papers  were 
asked  to  run  news  items  concerning  number 
of  immigrants  and  others  who  might  be  sent 
where  there  was  a  scarcity  of  farm  laborers. 
Nearly  3,000  postmasters  of  county  seats 
were  corresponded  with  as  to  whether  small 
farms  could  be  leased  or  purchased  in  the 
locality;  with  price  and  terms  of  sale  with 
details  as  to  climatic  conditions,  soil,  crops, 
school,  church  and  transportation  facilities. 
Volunteer  information  of  this  kind  from  any 
part  of  the  land  is  eagerly  sought  for  as  offering 
a  good  method  for  distribution  of  the  aliens. 

Over  2,000,000  cards  were  sent  out  through 


402  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  rural  delivery  routes  urging  the  farmers 
to  make  use  of  the  Division  when  needing 
laborers.  Correspondence  was  also  had  with 
Chambers  of  Commerce,  Boards  of  Trade, 
Bureaus  of  Labor  and  Statistics,  Boards  of 
Agriculture,  and  with  factory  inspection  de- 
partments of  various  states. 

A  liberal  construction  of  one  clause  of  the 
law  opens  the  way  for  making  this  Division 
a  great  national  Employment  Bureau  vieing 
with  that  of  New  Zealand  in  its  eflfectiveness. 
The  law  directs  that  information  gathered 
by  the  Division  be  given  "to  all  who  may 
ask  for  it  at  the  immigrant  stations  and  to 
such  others  as  may  desire  the  same."  "To 
such  others"  can  only  refer  to  non-aliens. 
When  this  Division  has  headquarters  in  every 
city,  it  can  be  made  largely  to  supersede  the 
ordinary  employment  bureau,  and  will  be 
free  to  everyone.  In  this  way,  the  opportunity 
to  labor  might  be  assured  to  all. 

Mr.  Powderly  recommends  certain  changes 
which  would  greatly  strengthen  the  law  in 
practice.  Europeans  are  quite  ignorant  of 
the  resources  of  the  United  States.  Litera- 
ture must  be  provided  and  placed  in  the  hands 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  403 

of  the  immigrants  already  here,  hoping  that 
they  may  send  it  home  and  by  this  means 
attract  a  still  better  class  of  people.  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  government  should  travel  in 
the  steerage,  using  the  time  of  the  passage 
in  distributing  literature  and  informing  the 
passengers  as  to  positions  and  possibilities 
elsewhere  than  at  the  port  of  entry.  He 
suggests  that  a  hall  be  furnished  at  every 
immigrant  station  where  the  people  could  be 
gathered  to  receive  information  through  lec- 
tures in  their  own  language,  and  by  means  of 
stereopticon  pictures.* 

♦RECOMMENDATION  OF  MR.  POWDERLY  FOR  THE 
AMENDMENT  OF  SEC.  40. 
"Section  40.  Authority  is  hereby  given  the  Commissioner- 
General  of  Immigration  to  establish,  under  the  direction  and 
control  of  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  a  division  of 
information  and  distribution  in  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and 
Naturalization;  and  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  shall 

fTovide  such  assistance,  clerical  or  otherwise,  as  may  be  necessary. 
t  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  Division  to  promote  a  beneficial  dis- 
tribution of  aliens  admitted  into  the  United  States  and  of  persons 
resident  therein  among  the  several  states  and  territories,  desiring 
immigration.  Correspondence  shall  be  had  with  the  proper  oflficials 
of  the  states  and  territories,  and  said  Division  shall  gather  from 
all  available  sources  useful  information  regarding  the  resources, 
products,  and  physical  characteristics  and  industrial  conditions 
of  each  state  and  territory,  and  such  other  information  as  may  be 
useful  or  necessary  and  shall  publish  the  same  in  different  lan- 
guages and  distribute  the  publications  among  admitted  aliens, 
either  at  the  immigrant  stations  in  the  United  States,  or  at  such 
other  points  as  may  be  found  necessary,  and  to  such  other  persons 
as  may  desire  the  same,  and  the  Division  of  Information  and 


404  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  in 
1915  will  make  it  possible  to  distribute  im- 
migrants from  new  centers  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  for  undoubtedly  all  the  great  steamship 
lines  will  run  ships  direct  from  the  Old  World 
to  the  Pacific  ports,  carrying  steerage  passen- 
gers as  they  do  now  to  New  York,  Boston, 
and  other  Atlantic  ports.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  work  of  this  Division  may  be  per- 
fected before  that  date  so  that  Los  Angeles, 
San  Francisco,  and  other  coast  cities  may  be 
saved  from  the  fearful  immigrant  congestion 
found  at  present  in  the  eastern  cities. 

Some  success  has  come  in  the  effort  to  divert 
immigration  to  Galveston.  The  mayor  of  that 
city  welcomed  the  first  ship  bringing  Russian 

Distribution  may  distribute  this  information  in  the  industrial 
centers  as  hereinafter  provided,  and  on  shipboard  after  leaving 
the  last  port  of  foreign  embarkation,  under  such  regulations  as 
the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  shall  prescribe.  Branches 
of  the  Division  of  Information  and  Distribution  may,  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  be  established 
in  the  various  industrial  centers  of  the  United  States,  where 
f aciUties  shall  be  afforded  to  disseminate  the  information  gathered 
in  conformity  with  this  act.  The  secretary  of  Commerce  and 
Labor  may,  whenever  it  is  deemed  necessary  to  verify  information 
furnished  to  the  Division  of  Information  and  Distribution,  detail 
oflBcials  thereof  for  that  purpose  to  any  part  of  the  United  States. 
All  expenses  incurred  in  establishing,  equipping,  and  maintaining 
the  said  branch  ofl&ces  for  the  accommodation  of  the  said  Divisions 
in  the  city  of  Washington,  if  necessary,  and  of  making  the  investi- 
gations herein  authorized,  shall  be  paid  from  the  permanent  ap- 
propriation,    'Expenses  of  Regulating  Inunigration'." 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  405 

Jews.  The  Jewish  leader  replied  to  the  mayor's 
words  of  welcome,  saying:  "We  are  over- 
whelmed that  the  ruler  of  the  city  should 
greet  us.  We  have  never  been  spoken  to  by 
the  oflScials  of  our  own  country  except  in 
terms  of  harshness,  and  although  we  have 
heard  of  the  great  land  of  freedom,  it  is  very 
hard  to  realize  that  we  are  permitted  to  grasp 
the  hand  of  the  great  man.  We  will  do  all 
we  can  to  make  good  citizens.'* 

South  America  is  the  point  of  destination 
for  many  of  the  Latin  races.  Argentina  for 
instance  received  in  1908,  250,000  immigrants. 
On  landing  they  were  all  given  five  days'  free 
board  and  lodging;  railroad  tickets  were  given 
them  to  any  point  designated  by  them,  with 
support  for  two  days  after  arrival.  All  me- 
chanics or  laborers  who  applied  were  found 
places  by  the  National  Bureau  of  Labor. 
Cannot  we  in  the  United  States  do  as  well  and 
thus  make  fellow-citizens  out  of  foreigners? 

To  the  great  words  already  discussed,  there 
must  be  added  another,  even  greater  and  that 
is  "education."  The  public  school  is  working 
a  miracle  of  transformation  among  the  alien 
children,  but  adult  education  has  but  just 


406  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

commenced.  Cannot  the  government  follow 
every  immigrant  from  the  time  he  arrives 
until  he  becomes  a  naturalized  citizen,  and 
see  that  not  alone  does  he  receive  employment 
but  that  every  chance  is  given  him  for  an 
education  ?  Night-schools  of  citizenship,  camp 
schools,  public  schools,  opened  as  social  and 
recreation  centers  can  greatly  aid  in  this 
matter  of  proper  adult  education.  Adult 
recreation  must  be  furnished  as  a  counter 
attraction  to  the  saloon;  national  plays  like 
Italian  Pallone  and  Boci  must  be  available 
to  all  the  foreigners.  Let  the  nation,  the  city, 
and  the  state  work  together  in  making  the 
New  American,  and  the  immigrant  problem 
will  soon  be  solved.  Says  David  in  Zangwill's 
play,  "The  Melting  Pot,"  "America  is  God's 
crucible  into  which  the  nations  are  being  poured 
to  come  out  the  new  American.  Down  at  the 
Educational  Alliance  the  other  night,  I  saw 
a  thousand  little  Jews  salute  the  American 
flag  and  my  heart  was  thrilled.  This  is  what 
they  said: 

"  Tlag  of  our  great  Republic,  inspirer  in 
battle,  guardian  of  our  homes,  whose  stars 
and  stripes  stand  for  Bravery,  Purity,  Truth, 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  407 

and  Union,  we  salute,  thee!  We,  the  natives 
of  distant  lands,  who  find  rest  under  thy  folds, 
do  pledge  our  hearts,  our  lives,  and  our  sacred 
honor  to  love  and  protect  thee,  our  COUNTRY 
and  the  LIBERTY  of  the  American  people 
FOREVER.' " 

That  the  government  is  determined  to  secure 
all  the  facts  regarding  immigration  is  shown 
by  the  appointment  of  a  joint  Commission 
of  Immigration  which  is  delving  deep  into 
every  field  of  investigation.  A  preliminary 
report  deals  with  oriental  aliens  and  other 
excluded  classes,  peonage,  charity  among 
immigrants,  white  slave  traffic,  conditions  of 
steerage,  anthropology,  congestion  in  large 
cities,  alien  criminality,  competition  of  im- 
migrants, school  inquiries,  administration  of 
the  immigration  laws,  distribution  of  immi- 
grants and  other  questions. 

While  the  preparation  for  citizenship  is 
important,  the  method  of  inducing  an  alien 
into  his  duties  as  a  citizen  must  receive  more 
careful  attention,  calling  perhaps  for  the 
passage  of  new  laws.  While  Congress  passed 
a  naturalization  law  as  far  back  as  1795,  its 
enforcement  was  left  to  the  states  with  no 


408  THE   BETTER  COUNTRY 

central  control,  so  that  there  grew  up  in  this 
country  very  great  frauds  resulting  in  the 
cheapening  of  citizenship  and  a  debauching 
of  the  new  citizen. 

In  1904,  President  Roosevelt  appointed  a 
Commission  and  the  law  which  they  reported 
was  passed  in  June  1906.  *  Everyone  in- 
terested in  citizenship  should  inquire  locally 
as  to  the  proper  enforcement  of  this  law  and 
see  to  it  that  all  fraud  is  eliminated  and  thus 
deal  bad  politics  a  telling  blow.  You  and  I 
have  a  duty  to  perform  in  the  great  work  of 
transforming  the  foreigner  into  a  fellow-citizen. 


♦See  Appendix  for  digest  of  law. 


CHAPTER  Xn 

Serving  Others 

A  need  of  the  day  is  for  men  who  can  serve 
their  fellows.  There  is  an  equal  need  for  a 
nation  that  can  serve  its  people.  "left  dien^* 
was  the  splendid  motto  of  the  Black  Prince; 
it  might  also  stand  as  the  foreword  of  demo- 
cracy. 

In  the  not  far  distant  years,  the  greatest 
nation  will  not  be  the  one  with  the  mightiest 
dreadnaughts,  or  the  largest  standing  armies; 
it  will  not  be  the  one  with  greatest  area  nor 
the  most  numerous  colonies,  but  the  one  which 
looks  best  after  the  health  and  happiness  of 
its  people;  which  guards  its  mothers  and  its 
children  as  its  choicest  possession;  and  which 
reckons  beauty  and  chastity  and  temperance 
as  virtues  to  be  cultivated  by  all  of  its  citizens. 

Without  boasting,  cannot  we  of  the  United 
States  claim  that,  as  a  nation,  we  have  started 
on  the  good  way  of  serving  others?  It  is  only 
a  start,  it  is  true,  but  the  way  grows  broader 
and  brighter  as  the  years  slip  by. 


410  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

While  we  have  already  reviewed  much  of 
the  work  of  these  departments  of  the  govern- 
ment which  are  especially  interested  in  human 
uplift,  attention  must  be  called  to  still  further 
work  carried  on  by  the  nation.  In  some 
respects,  one  of  the  most  important  laws  ever 
passed  was  that  which  established  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor,  for  this  De- 
partment has  to  do  with  the  protection  of  the 
American  laboring  man  and  with  the  checking 
of  the  abuses  on  the  part  of  capital. 

The  preamble  to  the  Constitution  lays  down 
broadly  two  great  aims  of  government;  first, 
the  defense  of  the  life,  liberty,  and  property 
of  the  citizen,  and  second  the  promotion  of  the 
general  welfare.  This  gives  a  constitutional 
basis  for  every  law  which  may  be  passed  with 
these  objects  in  view.  Acting  under  these 
provisions  of  the  Constitution,  this  Depart- 
ment in  its  Bureau  of  Labor  is  giving  national 
aid  and  supervision  to  the  laboring  interests 
of  the  country,  giving  special  attention  to  the 
relation  of  labor  to  capital,  the  hours  of  labor, 
the  earnings  of  laboring  men  and  women, 
and  the  means  of  promoting  their  material, 
social,  intellectual,  and  moral  prosperity. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  411 

Because  of  the  existence  of  this  Bureau 
of  Labor,  legislation  for  the  comfort  and  safety 
of  American  labor  has  been  much  greater  in 
amount  and  in  effectiveness,  since  its  creation 
in  1885,  than  in  all  of  the  previous  years  in 
life  of  the  government. 

The  educational  features  of  this  Bureau 
are  of  great  value.  In  a  recent  bulletin  the 
fact  is  clearly  brought  out  that  in  the  United 
States  an  immense  amount  of  human  life 
is  wasted  and  much  unnecessary  and  pre- 
ventable injury  is  done  to  health  and  strength, 
with  resulting  physical  impairment,  amount- 
ing to  a  very  considerable  economic  loss  to 
the  nation  as  a  whole. 

The  conservatism  of  the  world  is  a  bar  to 
such  remedial  legislation  yet  this  Bureau  will 
in  time  break  down  this  barrier  by  constant 
agitation  and  education,  showing  what  has 
been  done  the  world  over  for  the  cause  of 
labor. 

Ever  since  the  Civil  War,  commercial  or- 
ganizations have  repeatedly  memorialized  Con- 
gress for  the  establishment  of  a  Department 
of  Commerce.  This  appeal  was  granted  by 
the  creation  of  a  Bureau  of  Manuf  acturies  in 


412      THE   BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 
This  Bureau  collects  and  collates  information 
about  manufacturing  industries  and  markets 
both  in  this  country  and  abroad.  A  special 
article  on  the  work  of  this  Bureau  says : 

"Its  aim  is  to  promote  the  sale  of  our  articles 
in  foreign  lands,  and  the  value  of  its  service 
to  the  manufacturer  is  recognized  when  the 
Bureau  sends  a  special  message  to  him  con- 
cerning a  market  for  his  goods,  discovered 
in  the  course  of  its  regular  investigation. 
For  example,  agents  were  sent  to  China  to  get 
specimens  of  fabrics,  and  two  hundred  sets 
of  these  samples  were  furnished  to  manu- 
facturers of  cotton  and  to  textile  schools, 
that  they  might  be  prepared  to  supply  the 
Chinese  market  with  goods  salable  in  that 
country.  Agents  of  the  Department  have 
also  been  investigating  South  American,  Mexi- 
can, and  Japanese  markets,  and  reports  from 
these  countries  likely  to  be  of  use  to  certain 
manufacturers  have  been  mailed  to  them, 
with  a  view  to  their  losing  no  time  in  sending 
out  their  goods." 

One  of  the  duties  of  the  United  States  con- 
suls and  consular  agents  in  every  land  is  to 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  413 

gather  and  forward  such  information  as  will 
make  it  possible  to  expand  the  trade  of  the 
nation  until  our  commerce  shall  be  world- 
wide. 

If  trade  and  commerce  were  governed  only 
by  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  then  the 
duty  of  the  government  would  be  to  stimulate 
and  safeguard  the  business  interests  of  all  the 
people.  But  the  organization  of  trusts  and 
combines  have  brought  forth  problems  which 
now  call  mightily  for  solution.  In  order  to 
save  the  public  from  being  victimized  by  these 
newly  formed  corporations,  it  was  necessary 
to  create  the  Bureau  of  Corporations,  with 
power  to  investigate  and  if  necessary  restrict 
their  action.  This  mighty  potent  force  is 
something  new  in  Republican  government  for 
it  gives  the  President  almost  inquisitorial 
powers,  commanding  the  secrets  of  every 
business  enterprise  in  the  country.  The  law 
reads  as  follows : 

"The  said  Commissioner  of  Corporations 
shall  have  power  and  authority  to  make- 
under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  Commerce  and  Labor,  diligent  inves- 
tigation into  the  organization,  conduct  and 


414       THE    BETTER  COUNTRY 

management  of  the  business  of  any  corpora- 
tion, joint-stock  company  or  corporate  com- 
bination engaged  in  commerce  among  the 
several  states  and  with  foreign  nations,  except- 
ing common  carriers,  subject  to  *an  act  to 
regulate  commerce,'  approved  February  4, 
1887,  and  to  gather  such  information  and  data 
as  will  enable  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  make  recommendations  to  Congress 
for  legislation  for  the  regulation  of  such  com- 
merce, and  to  report  such  data  to  the  Presi- 
dent from  time  to  time  as  he  shall  require; 
and  the  information  so  obtained,  or  as  much 
thereof  as  the  President  may  direct,  shall  be 
made  public." 

Under  this  law,  proceedings  have  been  under- 
taken against  the  Standard  Oil  Company, 
and  against  many  other  corporations  ap- 
parently breakers  of  the  law. 

Under  this  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor,  industry  is  encouraged,  labor  is  pro- 
tected and  lawbreakers  are  punished.  This 
is  surely  for  the  good  of  all  the  people. 

The  Census  OflSce,  a  division  of  this  De- 
partment, is  no  longer  an  intermittent  bureau 
but  a  permanent  continuing  one,  whose  duty 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  415 

is  to  gather  all  manner  of  statistics  as  to  popu- 
lation, agriculture,  and  manufactures,  as 
well  as  to  take  the  usual  census  every  ten 
years.  This  makes  it  the  general  statistical 
clearing-house  of  the  United  States,  growing 
in  importance  as  the  years  pass  by. 

The  government  wishes  to  be  of  service 
to  those  who  are  of  inventive  mind,  for  it 
furnishes  anyone  who  writes  to  the  Patent 
Office  publications  at  five  cents  each,  con- 
taining the  description  of  all  patents  granted, 
up-to-date  in  any  class,  furnishing  suggestions 
as  to  the  new  inventions  and  acting  as  a  guard 
against  the  possibility  of  infringement.  The 
manufacturer  who  desires  to  keep  to  the  front 
in  his  line  may  subscribe  for  the  ^'Gazette,*' 
a  magazine  published  once  a  week  at  $5.00 
per  year,  containing  the  descriptions  and 
pictures  of  all  the  new  inventions. 

If  you  are  in  doubt  as  to  the  exactness  of 
any  of  your  weights,  measures  or  instruments, 
you  may  have  them  tested  by  the  Bureau  of 
Standards  at  the  actual  cost  of  the  test. 
Thousands  of  letters  pour  into  the  various 
departments  every  day,  each  one  receiving  a 
courteous  reply  and  usually  containing  the 


416  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

information  wanted.  Remember  the  govern- 
ment does  not  advertise,  but  it  has  a  vast 
amount  of  information  waiting  for  you  if  you 
ask  for  it,  at  the  cost  of  a  single  postage  stamp. 
The  government  has  been  of  great  service 
to  those  who  Hve  along  the  banks  of  the  great 
rivers.  It  has  built  enormous  levees,  amply 
protecting  from  the  danger  of  flood,  hundreds 
of  miles  of  rich  valley  farm  land  and  many 
riverside  cities.  Even  with  this  protection, 
there  would  be  great  damage  from  the  annual 
floods  were  it  not  for  the  warnings  issued  by 
the  Weather  Bureau.  The  chief  of  this 
Bureau  has  divided  the  nation  into  forty -four 
"river  districts"  each  with  many  sub-stations. 
The  local  officials  are  constantly  employed 
in  gauging  the  streams,  measuring  the  snows 
and  rains,  and  daily  sending  to  headquarters 
their  reports  to  be  made  into  maps  as  a  basis 
of  reports  to  be  sent  out  by  the  river  guardians. 
The  early  warnings  sent  out  a  dozen  years 
ago  were  received  contemptuously  and  few 
acted  upon  them,  although  they  were  signed 
by  the  chief  in  Washington.  The  disastrous 
flood  of  1897,  which  overflowed  13,000  square 
miles  of  land,  destroying  life  and  property 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  417 

because  the  warning  had  not  been  acted  upon, 
brought  its  lesson  to  those  who  were  once  in- 
credulous. 

The  people  are  now  ready  to  act  promptly 
when  the  Bureau  telegraphs  the  unwelcome 
news  that  the  flood  will  reach  them  in  from 
two  to  ten  days,  acccording  to  their  location, 
up  or  down  the  river.  This  gives  time  for 
the  entire  country-side  to  turn  out  for  the 
purpose  of  fighting  the  flood,  strengthening 
the  levees  or  removing  valuable  property  to 
higher  ground.  In  time,  by  building  stronger 
levees  and  by  forecasting  floods,  the  govern- 
ment will  be  able  to  make  the  dwellers  on  the 
lowlands  as  safe  as  are  the  farmers  who  dwell 
under  the  dykes  of  Holland. 

In  the  interest  of  all  the  people,  the  Geo- 
logical Survey  is  busy  examining  accurately 
all  mineral  lands  and  guarding  this  infor- 
mation with  great  care  until  it  may  be  released 
at  the  same  time  to  all  interested  parties, 
thus  largely  avoiding  monopoly  by  the  few. 
Experts  under  the  Geological  Survey  have  long 
worked  on  the  composite  value  of  the  explo- 
sion engine,  as  compared  with  that  of  steam 
power.    The  experiments  seemed  to  show  that 


418         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

the  explosion  engine  fed  with  gas  made  direct 
from  coal  by  a  machine  devised  for  that  pur- 
pose, is  certain  to  furnish  the  stationary 
power  in  this  country  for  the  next  industrial 
epoch. 

The  tests  on  the  use  of  alcohol  for  power 
have  been  successful,  showing  that  in  the  tropics 
where  coal  and  oil  do  not  occur,  the  luxuriant 
vegetation  makes  it  possible  to  distill  alcohol 
at  small  cost.  This  type  of  engine  may  dis- 
place the  present  equipment  in  the  war  vessels 
and  commercial  ships,  so  that  the  enormous 
expense  of  maintaining  great  coaling  stations 
abroad  may  be  eliminated.  Another  advan- 
tage in  the  use  of  the  gas  and  alcohol  engines  is 
found  in  the  almost  entire  elimination  of 
smoke  and  dirt,  the  bane  of  all  our  industrial 
districts. 

The  government  has  always  been  liberal 
in  the  payment  of  pensions  to  the  men  who 
fought  in  its  wars.  At  present  there  are  over 
a  million  pensioners  on  the  rolls  of  the  pension 
oflSce.  The  last  pensioned  soldier  of  the  War 
of  1812  and  the  last  surviving  widow  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  have  now  passed  away,  but 
two  daughters  of  Revolutionary  soldiers  and 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  419 

about  500  widows  of  the  War  of  1812  still 
receive  their  regular  pensions.  This  item 
indicates  that  though  another  war  may  never 
occur,  there  will  be  work  for  the  Pension 
OflSce  for  a  century  to  come. 

In  order  to  serve  the  scattered  people  in  its 
vast  domains,  the  government  has  entered 
into  the  business  of  owning  and  operating 
far  beyond  the  dreams  of  the  early  fathers  of 
the  nation.  The  government  built  the  Wash- 
ington Alaskan  telegraph  and  cable  system, 
to  carry  the  news  of  the  world  to  the  far-oflF 
Yukon  Valley.  In  laying  the  cable,  the  gov- 
ernment found  it  impossible  to  carry  it  across 
Norton  Sound.  Wireless  towers  were  erected 
on  either  shore,  107  miles  apart,  thus  closing 
the  break  in  the  line  of  transmission.  This 
federal  line,  by  means  of  telegraph,  cable  and 
wireless,  transmits  daily  the  news  of  the  whole 
world  to  far-off  Alaska,  and  this  news  is 
discussed  in  the  streets  of  Nome  by  6.00  P.M. 

The  government  has  not  hesitated  to  open 
abattoirs  in  Philippine  cities  and  cold  storage 
plants  in  Manila,  while  government  saw- 
mills, mines,  stores,  farms  and  tenements 
are  conducted  successfully  in  these  islands. 


420       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Yet  there  are  still  those  who  say  that  this  is 
the  field  for  private  initiative  alone  and  not 
for  public  ownership. 

In  the  industrial  life  of  this  nation,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  show  that  w^e  have  been  in  the 
business  of  ''making  steel  and  killing  men"; 
of  slaughtering  thousands  by  street  car  and 
railroad,  so  that  life  has  seemed  cheap  as 
compared  with  the  estimate  placed  upon  it  by 
many  other  nations.  The  story  of  this  slaugh- 
ter has  been  voiced  in  Congress  and  many  bills 
have  been  introduced  intended  as  a  remedy, 
a  few  of  which  have  been  enacted  into  law, 
but  whatever  has  been  done  can  be  considered 
only  as  a  small  beginning  as  the  need  of  relief 
is  so  great. 

The  Inter-state  Commission  in  order  to  find 
methods  of  preventing  railroad  accidents, 
appointed  under  act  of  Congress  a  "block 
signal  and  train  control  board  to  investigate 
block  signals,  automatic  stops  and  cab  signals, 
and  other  devices  designed  to  promote  the 
safety  of  railroad  operation."  The  reports 
of  this  Board  when  completed  will  furnish  a 
basis  for  proper  legislation  aflfecting  railway 
control. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  421 

While  not  so  directly  in  touch  with  com- 
mercial and  industrial  life,  yet  the  nation  is 
in  business  to  such  an  extent  that  it  will  be 
forced  to  pass  laws  covering  industrial  acci- 
dents. The  government  must  give  attention 
to  the  use  of  safety  devices  as  well  as  to  the 
matter  of  compensation  for  industrial  acci- 
dents, the  loss  through  which  constitutes 
annually  "an  industrial  Bull  Run."  That 
such  compensation  must  be  on  a  basis  of  the 
risk  of  the  industry,  rather  than  on  a  basis  of 
negligence  seems  inevitable. 

We  have  been  making  paupers  under  our 
industrial  system.  To  abolish  pauperism  and 
poverty  will  call  for  the  best  thought  in  city, 
state  and  nation.  But  in  the  meantime,  while 
pauperism  and  poverty  continue,  efforts  must 
be  put  forth  to  discover  the  cause  and  with 
courage  to  apply  the  cure  as  the  proper  methods 
of  treatment  are  made  evident. 

In  the  prefatory  note  to  the  article  by 
Charles  Edward  Russell  on  "The  Passing  of 
the  Poorhouse,"  the  editor  of  one  of  our  pop- 
ular magazines*  says: 

"They    are    abolishing    the    poorhouse    in 

Hampton's  Broadway  Magazine,  Dec,  1908. 


422  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Europe.  Parliament  has  just  passed  the 
Old  Age  Pensions  Bill,  which  has  profoundly 
agitated  England.  Germany,  France,  Aus- 
tralia and  New  Zealand  have  all  taken  drastic 
steps  in  the  same  direction.  Excepting  our 
own,  the  foremost  nations  of  the  world  are 
combining  in  a  human  battle  against  poverty 
in  old  age.  We,  in  turn,  must  soon  awaken 
to  the  necessity  and  economy  of  pensioning 
the  aged  poor. 

"To-day  there  are  some  2,500  almshouses, 
with  more  than  80,000  permanent  inmates, 
in  this  country.  According  to  the  latest 
government  report  their  annual  cost  of  main- 
tenance is  $37,306,135.  This  does  not  include 
the  enormous  property  investment,  the  in- 
terest on  which,  together  with  the  millions 
spent  for  maintenance,  would  afiford  every 
public  pensioner  in  this  country  nearly  $100. 
a  year."^ 

The  demand  for  annuity  or  retiring  pensions 
for  governmental  civil  service  employes  is 
growing  insistent  and  in  some  form  must  soon 
be  granted.  If  a  pension  is  to  be  granted  to 
employes  of  the  government,  why  not  to  all 
citizens  who  have  passed  a  certain  age  and 
fulfilled  the  required  conditions. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  428 

That  the  burden  of  taxation  which  has  always 
rested  heavily  on  the  shoulders  of  the  great 
middle  class  and  the  masses  in  general  is  now 
to  be  shifted  or  at  least  more  equally  distri- 
buted is  shown  in  the  discussions  concerning 
the  inheritance  and  income  tax.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  proposed  income  law  will  be 
ratified  by  the  states  and  thus  another  step 
taken  toward  the  true  democracy. 

Although  much  has  been  said  in  a  previous 
chapter  concerning  the  government  work  in 
the  life-saving  business,  the  record  of  the 
nation's  service  in  the  cause  of  health  was  not 
completed.  To  this  must  be  added  the  work 
of  the  hydrographer  of  the  U.S.  Geological 
Survey  who  is  waging  an  educational  campaign 
on  the  subject  of  danger  from  the  pollution 
of  rivers.  The  report  points  out  that  not 
only  thousands  of  lives  could  be  saved  were 
the  streams  kept  pure,  but  that  hundreds  of 
millions  of  dollars  are  represented  by  the  lives 
snuffed  out.  Heretofore  there  has  been  but 
little  thought  on  the  subject  of  stream  pollu- 
tions, each  city  dumping  its  sewerage  into  the 
nearest  stream,  only  to  pollute  the  drinking 
water  of  the  cities  and  towns  farther  down. 


424  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  people  are  becoming  aroused  through  the 
agitation  and  education  on  the  part  of  the 
goverament;  various  methods  for  the  puri- 
fication of  city  sewerage  are  being  installed  and 
the  purified  product  discharged  into  the  rivers 
without  damage  to  the  water  users  below. 
That  it  pays  to  give  attention  to  the  disposal 
of  sewerage  is  shown  by  the  result  of  an  inves- 
tigation of  the  cost  of  typhoid  fever  in  one 
of  the  large  cities  on  the  Ohio  River.  "In 
one  year  in  two  wards,  149  cases  cost  the  com- 
munity $24,345,  and  on  this  basis  the  5,637 
cases  the  city  had  in  the  year  cost  $725,000, 
a  sum  ample  to  give  a  perfect  system  of  clean 
water  and  thus  avoid  this  monetary  loss, 
without  considering  the  humanitarian  side." 
The  nation  which  can  drive  out  yellow  fever 
from  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  ought  to  be  able, 
in  co-operation  with  the  states  and  municipali- 
ties, to  exterminate  typhoid  fever  from  the 
entire  land. 

Because  the  furnishing  of  clean  milk  to  the 
public  is  a  national  problem,  the  government 
is  giving  special  attention  to  the  safeguarding 
of  this  necessary  food  supply  through  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture.    The  report  of  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  425 

Secretary  says:  "The  dairy  cow  maintains 
an  industry  whose  products  are  worth  more 
than  the  wheat  crop  or  the  hay  crop  or  *King 
Cotton.'  They  go  to  almost  every  one  of  the 
19,000,000  families  of  the  country  as  milk  or 
butter  or  cheese,  but  more  especially  as  milk. 
It  is  a  matter  of  greater  concern  to  the  public 
than  ever  before  that  milk  and  butter  should 
be  wholesome  and  unadulterated.  The  qual- 
ity and  healthfulness  of  these  products  largely 
depend  on  bacteria.  It  has  been  necessary 
to  educate  the  dairyman  and  the  public  in  the 
exclusion  of  injurious  bacteria  and  in  the  use 
of  beneficial  bacteria  of  such  kinds  as  impart 
the  desired  flavors  to  butter  and  cheese.  Such 
education  has  been  immensely  promoted  by 
the  work  of  the  Department  and  of  the  ex- 
periment stations." 

This  Department  has  adopted  the  slogan 
of  Gail  Borden,  sounded  a  half  century  ago 
that  "Clean  milk  is  pure  milk,"  and  it  has 
undertaken  to  educate  the  people  of  a  nation 
and  bring  them  up  to  this  ideal.  Under  the 
direction  of  the  Dairy  Division,  the  first  cream 
and  milk  contest  in  the  country  was  held 
in  Chicago,  in  1906,  with  many  states  and 


426  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

cities  holding  similar  contests  since  that  date, 
each  contest  having  the  presence  and  advice 
of  the  national  experts.  The  object  of  the 
national  contest  was,  first,  educational;  sec- 
ond, to  determine  the  possibilities  in  the  hand- 
ling and  keeping  of  milk  and  cream  produced 
under  sanitary  conditions;  third,  to  test  a 
score  card  for  rating  fairly  and  accurately 
this  class  of  dairy  products.  Much  interest 
was  shown  in  this  contest  from  the  beginning, 
and  exhibits  were  sent  from  thirteen  different 
states.  The  results  according  to  the  published 
report  were  most  gratifying,  one  of  the  most 
striking  being  the  demonstration  of  the  fact 
that  clean  milk,  held  at  a  low  temperature, 
could  be  shipped  a  thousand  miles  across  the 
country  and  kept  sweet  for  a  period  of  over 
five  weeks. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  co-operation  of 
municipal,  state  and  national  boards  of  health 
may  be  rewarded  eventually  in  the  saving  of 
millions  of  babies'  lives. 

Notwithstanding  the  agitation  by  vegetar- 
ians, this  country  is  still  a  meat-eating  nation, 
the  per  capita  consumption  being  180  pounds 
per  annum,  amounting  to  30  per  cent,  of  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  427 

cost  of  living.  Since  the  meat-producing 
animals  are  subject  to  disease  which  may  be 
transmitted  to  man,  the  careful  inspection  of 
meat  becomes  of  great  sanitary  importance. 
An  Inspection  Act  passed  Congress  in  1891, 
but  that  its  provisions  were  not  stringent 
enough  is  shown  by  the  revelations  in  the  meat 
scandal  which  attracted  so  much  public  notice. 
Because  of  this  revelation  and  because  foreign 
countries  refused  to  purchase  our  surplus 
uninspected  meat  products,  Congress  was  led, 
in  1906,  to  pass  the  present  rigid  law  which 
empowers  federal  inspectors  to  assume  super- 
vision not  only  of  the  slaughtering  but  also 
of  the  care,  curing  and  shipping  of  all  edible 
products  in  those  establishments  operating 
under  federal  inspection. 

The  following  description  of  the  process  is 
summarized  from  a  recent  health  report: 

"This  supervision  consists,  first,  in  ante- 
mortem  inspection  of  the  animals  to  be  slaugh- 
tered; second,  in  a  macroscopic  inspection  of 
all  carcasses  at  the  time  of  slaughter,  and, 
third,  in  a  close  supervision  of  the  curing, 
processing  and  marking  of  all  meats  handled 
in  the  establishment. 


428  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

"The  ante-mortem  inspection  consists  in 
having  all  animals  destined  to  establishments, 
operating  under  Federal  inspection,  inspected 
by  skilled  men  for  evidence  of  any  disease 
that  might  render  the  flesh  miwholesome  for 
food;  and  in  case  an  animal  is  found  to  be 
so  diseased,  it  is  tagged  for  identification,  and 
a  notice  is  forwarded  to  the  inspector  conduct- 
ing the  post-mortem  inspection,  giving  the 
reasons  for  tagging  the  animal  and  such  other 
information  as  may  be  deemed  advisable. 
Such  animals  are  killed  separate  from  others 
and  are  disposed  of  in  accordance  with  the 
pathological  lesions  presented,  in  connection 
with  the  information  obtained  through  the 
ante-mortem  inspection. 

"The  post-mortem  inspection  consists  in 
making  a  close  macroscopic  or  digital  exami- 
nation, of,  first,  the  lymph  glands  of  the  head 
and  throat;  second,  the  viscera  and  accom- 
panying lymph  glands;  and  third,  an  exam- 
ination of  the  serous  membranes,  the  verte- 
brae, etc.,  after  the  carcass  has  been  split.  In 
case  lesions  or  conditions  are  discovered  that 
render  the  carcass  or  a  part  thereof  unwhole- 
some or  unfit  for  food,  it  is  condemned  and 
destroyed  for  food  purposes. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  429 

"A  meat  inspector  is  placed  in  the  cutting 
room  to  see  that  the  work  is  done  in  a  cleanly 
manner  and  to  secure  and  condemn  any  meats 
that  are  allowed  to  become  dirty,  or  diseased 
parts  that  may  have  escaped  detection  on  the 
killing  floor;  other  employes  are  stationed 
in  the  pickling  and  smoking  departments  to 
to  see  that  the  work  is  done  in  a  cleanly  man- 
ner, that  no  deleterious  preservatives  are  used 
and  to  inspect  the  meats  being  shipped  from 
these  departments  in  order  to  detect  and  con- 
demn such  as  may  have  undergone  deteriora- 
tion during  the  curing  processes ;  similar  super- 
vision is  given  to  the  canning  and  sausage 
departments  to  see  that  the  products  are 
handled  in  a  cleanly  and  sanitary  manner, 
and  that  no  spoiled  or  diseased  meats  are 
used,  and  that  all  products  are  branded  what 
they  are.  Strict  supervision  is  exercised  over 
the  rendering  and  refining  departments  to 
see  that  none  but  clean,  sweet,  wholesome 
fats  are  used,  and  that  the  products  are  prop- 
erly branded. 

"The  sanitary  conditions  of  the  establish- 
ment are  looked  after  and  it  is  required  that 
all  of  the  work  of  handling  and  caring  for  the 


430  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

meats  and  meat  food  products  be  done  in  a 
cleanly  manner  by  clean  workmen,  using  clean 
utensils.  Proper  facilities  for  the  thorough 
disinfection  of  the  workmen's  hands  and  tools 
that  may  become  contaminated  in  the  hand- 
ling or  cutting  of  diseased  tissues,  and  suitable 
dressing  rooms  and  toilet  facilities  for  the 
employes  are  required." 

This  is  good  so  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  under  our  system  of  govern- 
ment only  such  packing  houses  as  have  inter- 
state traflSc  are  subject  to  federal  inspection. 
That  leaves  all  abattoirs  in  small  towns  and 
country  districts  without  such  beneficial  legis- 
lation, except  as  the  state  or  local  authorities 
may  enforce  the  law.  Because  of  this,  two- 
fifths  of  all  the  meat  used  is  without  federal 
inspection,  because  not  shipped  out  of  the 
state. 

The  underlying  principle  of  all  pure  food 
legislation  is  found  in  this  statement  from  a 
message  by  President  Roosevelt,  "That  the 
public  welfare  outweighs  the  right  to  private 
gain  and  that  no  man  may  poison  the  people 
for  his  private  profit.'* 

For  over  twenty  years  the  Bureau  of  Chem- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  431 

istry  has  carried  on  investigations  relative  to 
the  adulteration  of  foods.  The  cause  which 
led  to  this  activity  is  found  in  the  then  com- 
mon practice  of  substituting  glucose  for  honey 
and  oleomargarine  for  butter.  The  important 
results  of  the  investigations  concerning  such 
adulterations  led  to  the  passage  of  the  "pure 
food  law"  in  1906,  which  law  forbids  the  im- 
portation into  the  United  States,  the  exporta- 
tion from  the  United  States,  the  introduction 
into  inter-state  commerce,  and  the  manufac- 
ture and  sale  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
the  territories  of  misbranded  and  adulterated 
food  and  drugs. 

The  law  is  administered  under  the  direction 
of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  and  provides 
that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture  and  the  Secretary  of 
Commerce  and  Labor  shall  make  uniform 
rules  and  regulations  for  carrying  out  its 
provisions. 

The  description  of  the  workings  of  this  law 
is  summarized  from  the  national  reports : 

The  organization  charged  with  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  law  includes  inspectors  who  pro- 
cure samples  for   analysis   and   information 


432  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

regarding  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  food 
and  drugs ;  chemists  and  clerks,  in  the  labora- 
tories of  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry  in  Washing- 
ton and  in  the  branch  laboratories  in  other 
cities,  of  which  sixteen  are  now  in  operation 
and  three  are  being  installed;  the  Board  of 
Food  and  Drug  Inspection,  whose  duties  are 
to  consider  all  questions  arising  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  Food  and  Drug  Act  of  June  SO, 
1906,  upon  which  the  decision  of  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture  is  necessary;  to  consider  and 
supervise  all  correspondence  involving  inter- 
pretations of  the  law,  and  to  conduct  all  hear- 
ings based  upon  alleged  violations  of  the  Food 
and  Drug  Act  of  June  30,  1906. 

Information  secured  by  the  inspectors  and 
laboratories  regarding  violations  of  the  law 
is  reported  by  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Chemistry  to  the  Board  of  Food  and  Drug 
Inspection,  which,  when  the  charges  appear 
to  be  sustained,  makes  recommendations  to 
the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  regarding  the 
exclusion  of  adulterated  and  misbranded  food 
and  drugs  offered  for  importation,  and  prose- 
cutions for  the  sale  of  domestic  goods  in  vio- 
lation of  the  law.    All  persons  charged  with 


^ 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       433 

violations  of  the  law  are  afforded  a  hearing  at 
which  they  may  introduce  testimony. 

One  way  of  testing  the  deleterious  effects  of 
adulterated  foods  is  by  means  of  the  '*poison 
squad,"  which  consists  of  young  men  who 
volunteer  to  eat  these  foods  during  a  certain 
length  of  time,  the  evil  effects  being  carefully 
noted.  Much  of  the  success  in  enforcing  this 
law  is  due  to  the  careful  scientific  work  carried 
on  by  Dr.  H.  W.  Wiley,  the  chief  of  the  Bureau 
of  Chemistry.  This  man  is  honored  through- 
out the  nation  for  his  twenty-five  years  of 
faithful  altruistic  services  in  behalf  of  the 
people,  notwithstanding  the  desperate  efforts 
on  the  part  of  manufacturers  of  adulterated 
food  and  drugs  to  vilify  him  and  destroy  his 
power.  The  reason  for  this  is  made  evident 
by  the  report  of  Dr.  Wiley.  *'The  progress 
of  this  work,"  he  writes  in  the  Saturday  Even- 
ing Post,  "led  to  the  most  surprising  revela- 
tions as  to  the  vast  extent  and  character  of 
food  adulteration.  It  was  seen  that  there 
was  scarcely  any  article  of  food  which  had 
not  been  more  or  less  tampered  with  for  im- 
proper purposes — ^for  it  must  be  admitted,  it 
seems  to  me,  that  all  adulteration  of  food 


434      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

products  is  improper.  The  data  obtained 
revealed  the  fact  that  food  adulteration  was 
generally  accomplished  in  one  of  the  following 
ways: 

"First,  the  abstraction  of  some  valuable 
ingredient  with  or  without  the  substitution 
of  a  less  valuable  material.  An  illustration 
of  this  form  of  adulteration  is  seen  in  the  par- 
tial skimming  of  milk  and  selling  the  product 
as  'whole  milk.' 

"Second,  the  addition  of  an  ingredient  to  a 
food  product  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
its  bulk  with  a  less  costly  ingredient.  An 
illustration  of  this  is  seen  in  the  practice  of 
adding  water  to  milk. 

"Third,  the  imitation  of  a  food  product  by 
the  use  of  a  substance  entirely  different  in  its 
nature  and  properties.  This  form  of  adul- 
teration is  seen  in  the  substitution  of  oleo- 
margarine for  butter,  or  glucose  for  honey, 
and  melted  sugar  for  maple  syrup. 

"Fourth,  the  coloring  of  a  food  product  so 
as  to  make  it  appear  of  a  better  quality  than 
it  really  is,  or  at  least  to  induce  the  consumer 
to  regard  it  as  more  valuable.  This  form  of 
adulteration  is  illustrated  by  the  coloring  of 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY      435 

white  butter  so  as  to  make  it  a  deep  yellow; 
by  the  addition  of  aniline  dyes  to  colored  mix- 
tures to  make  them  resemble  the  natural  color 
of  fruit,  as  in  the  manufacture  of  artificial 
jams,  jellies  and  marmalades;  and  the  addi- 
tion of  sulphate  of  copper  to  green  peas  and 
beans. 

"Fifth,  the  addition  to  a  food  product  of  a 
chemical  antiseptic  having,  in  the  quantity 
used,  no  perceptible  taste  or  odor,  and  thus 
not  revealing  itself  in  any  way  to  the  consumer. 
This  form  of  adulteration  is  seen  in  the  very 
common  use  of  such  chemical  antiseptics  as 
salicylic  acid  and  its  compound  borax  and 
boric  acid,  sulphurous  acid  and  its  compounds, 
benzoic  acid  and  its  compounds,  formaldehyde 
chlorides  and  other  substances.  The  addition 
of  such  antiseptics  to  foods  tends  to  preserve 
them  from  decay. 

"Then  there  is  the  misbranding  of  a  food 
package,  either  in  respect  of  the  country  or 
place  where  made  or  the  contents  of  the 
package.  This  form  of  adulteration  is  illus- 
trated by  the  labeling  of  maple  syrup  made 
in  other  states  as  pure  Vermont  maple  syrup; 
by  labeling  brands  of  olive  oil  not  made  at 
or  near  Lucca  as  Lucca  olive  oil.'* 


436        THE  BETTER   COUNTRY 

The  battle  for  pure  food  is  not  yet  won,  but 
assisted  by  state  and  municipal  laws  the 
possibility  of  poisoning  from  adulterated  food 
is  becoming  more  and  more  remote. 

Dr.  Wiley  has  sought  to  determine  how  long 
it  is  safe  to  keep  food  in  cold  storage.  These 
experiments  were  carried  on  in  a  room  in  two 
cold  storage  warehouses,  one  in  Philadelphia 
and  another  in  Washington,  the  methods  of 
which  are  described  as  follows:  In  the  com- 
partments of  each  room  were  placed,  when  they 
were  in  season  and  most  abundant,  various 
animal  foods.  In  quail  season  Dr.  Wiley 
stored  one  hundred  and  forty-four  quail  of 
the  same  age  and  especially  shot  under  his 
supervision.  He  stored  them,  half  drawn  and 
half  undrawn,  after  putting  aside  a  dozen 
to  be  served  to  a  jury  of  men  who  are  to  com- 
pare the  flavor  of  these  fresh  birds  with  that 
of  the  remainder,  kept  on  ice.  Of  these  latter, 
twelve  or  eighteen  to  be  taken  out  of  storage 
every  three  months.  Some  to  be  analyzed, 
some  examined  for  microbes  and  ptomaines, 
and  some  cooked  and  served  to  the  same  jury 
which  noted  the  flavor  of  the  fresh  quail. 
Every  three  months  the  experiment  was  to 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       437 

be  repeated  until  the  jury  found  the  quarterly 
installment  too  *'gamey,"  or  until  poisonous 
microbes  or  ptomaines  appeared.  The  same 
tests  were  made  with  poultry,  fish,  and  meats. 

The  government  is  not  satisfied  to  guard  the 
food  supplies  only  but  the  nutrition  experts 
of  the  Agriculture  Department  are  teaching 
the  home-makers  the  value  of  foods  and  the 
best  methods  of  preparing  them.  This  work 
in  home  economics  is  of  value  to  every  home 
in  the  land. 

The  Office  of  Experiment  Stations  reports 
that  "the  interest  in  the  scientific  study  of 
home  problems  is  a  growing  one,  as  is 
shown,  for  instance,  by  the  important  place 
such  problems  occupy  in  the  programmes 
of  women's  club  work,  in  the  popular  press, 
in  farmers'  institute  and  university  extension 
work,  in  the  plans  of  settlement  workers  and 
similar  organizations  for  home  betterment, 
in  the  extension  of  courses  in  home  economics 
branches  in  schools  and  colleges,  and  the 
recognition  of  such  lines  of  work  as  possessing 
true  educational  value,  as  well  as  by  the 
increasingly  large  number  of  trained  investi- 
gators in  agricultural    colleges,  medical  col- 


438        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

leges,  universities,  state  boards  of  health,  and 
similar  institutions,  who  are  giving  their 
attention  to  the  solving  of  the  many  complex 
problems  pertaining  to  food  and  nutrition. 

"In  connection  with  the  nutrition  investi- 
gations of  this  Office  a  large  fund  of  informa- 
tion has  been  collected  regarding  the  relative 
value  of  different  foods  produced  on  the  farm, 
ranch  and  garden,  and  the  effect  on  nutritive 
value  of  milling  and  other  manufacturing 
processes;  the  comparative  digestibility;  the 
relative  merits  of  different  methods  of  com- 
bining foods  to  secure  a  rational  and  palatable 
diet;  the  comparative  economy  of  different 
methods  of  cooking  and  preparing  foods;  the 
effect  of  different  methods  of  storing  and  hand- 
ling food  in  the  home,  palatability,  wholesome- 
ness,  and  nutritive  value,  and  on  related 
questions.  As  a  result  of  these  investigations 
some  sixty  technical  bulletins  have  been  pre- 
pared reporting  the  details  of  the  experimental 
work,  as  well  as  some  thirty-five  farmers' 
bulletins  and  similar  publications,  in  which 
the  practical  results  and  general  information 
along  similar  lines  are  set  forth  in  such  a  way 
that  they  may  be  useful  to  home  makers  and 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY      439 

others  interested  in  general  questions  of  food 
nutrition  and  home  management.  That  the 
technical  bulletins  are  appreciated  is  shown 
by  the  demand  which  is  made  for  them  by- 
investigation  in  the  United  States  and  else- 
where, and  by  the  extended  use  which  is  made 
of  the  results  reported  by  writers  of  text-books, 
and  reference  works,  and  by  scientific  workers 
in  general.  That  the  popular  bulletins  are 
used  extensively  by  the  people  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  3,000,000  copies  of  the  sixteen 
farmers*  bulletins  on  nutrition  topics  now 
available  have  been  distributed,  and  it  should 
be  said  in  this  connection  that  these  publica- 
tions are  not  sent  out  broadcast,  but  are  dis- 
tributed only  on  request." 

In  this  way  the  government  is  coming  into 
very  close  contact  with  the  people,  showing 
that  it  is  surely  in  the  work  of  human  uplift. 
What  Dr.  Wiley  and  others  have  done  for 
pure  food,  Anthony  Comstock  has  done  for 
purity  of  morals.  As  an  oflScer  of  the 
government,  his  work  has  been  to  prevent  the 
use  of  the  mails  to  carry  indecent  matter, 
books,  pamphlets  and  pictures,  intended  to 
corrupt  the  youth.     Many  tons  of  printed 


440      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

matter  and  plates  have  been  destroyed  through 
his  eflforts,  thus  saving  thousands  of  children 
from  the  debasing  influences  of  the  vile  and 
offensive  matter. 

While  there  are  many  who  are  studying  the 
question  of  conserving  our  natural  resources, 
there  are  also  those  who  are  giving  much 
thought  to  the  conservation  of  our  human 
resources.  Agitation  concerning  child  saving 
is  at  last  attracting  the  attention  of  the 
government  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  the  federal  government  will  give  for  the 
conservation  of  child  life  as  much  money  as  it 
does  to  improve  the  breed  of  cattle  or  to  des- 
troy the  Gypsy  moth. 

The  child  of  today  is  the  citizen  of  tomorrow. 
We  have  no  right  "to  squander  our  incalculable 
treasure  of  childhood  through  child  labor, 
slum  conditions,  lack  of  education,  or  incar- 
ceration in  institutions  where  the  ideal  is  to 
stifle  all  individuality  and  turn  the  children 
out  formed  in  one  mold."  Strongly  believing! 
in  this  sentiment.  President  Roosevelt  sum-! 
moned  a  Conference  on  Dependent  Children' 
which  met  at  the  White  House  in  January, 
1909.     Great  as  has  been  the  success  of  the' 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY      441 

Conservation  Congresses  held  in  Washington, 
they  were  not  more  far-reaching  then  this 
one.  Social  workers  from  all  over  the  nation 
gathered  at  his  bidding.  This  body  repre- 
sented divergent  religious  beliefs  and  methods 
of  child  care,  yet  all  agreed  with  the  President 
that  "each  of  these  dependent  children  repre- 
sents either  a  potential  addition  to  the  pro- 
ductive capacity  and  the  enlightened  citizen- 
ship of  the  nation,  or,  if  allowed  to  sufiFer 
from  neglect,  a  potential  addition  to  the  des- 
tructive forces  of  the  community."  This 
memorable  gathering  after  free  and  open 
discussions  for  two  days,  finally  united  in  a 
most  remarkable  set  of  resolutions.  Although 
representing  institutions  containing  nearly 
10,000  dependent  children,  this  conference 
declared  against  institutional  life  only  as  a 
temporary  expedient,  and  then  by  the  use 
of  the  cottage  system,  rather  than  by  the  con- 
gregate plan,  urging  home  care  under  state 
supervision  as  a  substitute.  The  report  of  the 
Conference  says  in  part: 

"Home  life  is  the  highest  and  finest  product 
of  civilization.  It  is  the  great  moulding  force 
of  mind  and  of  character.     Children  should 


442     THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

not  be  deprived  of  it  except  for  urgent  and 
compelling  reasons.  Children  of  parents  of 
worthy  character,  suffering  from  temporary 
misfortune,  and  children  of  reasonably  efficient 
and  deserving  mothers  who  are  without  the 
support  of  the  normal  breadwinner,  should, 
as  a  rule,  be  kept  with  their  parents,  such  aid 
being  given  as  may  be  necessary  to  maintain 
suitable  homes  for  the  rearing  of  children. 
This  aid  should  be  given  by  such  methods 
and  from  such  sources  as  may  be  determined 
by  the  general  relief  policy  of  each  community, 
preferably  in  the  form  of  private  charity, 
rather  than  of  public  relief.  Except  in  unus- 
ual circumstances,  the  home  should  not  be 
broken  up  for  reasons  of  poverty,  but  only 
for  considerations  of  inefficiency  or  immorality. 
**The  most  important  and  valuable  phil- 
anthropic work  is  not  the  curative,  but  the 
preventive — to  check  dependency  by  a  thor- 
ough study  of  its  causes  and  by  effectively 
remedying  or  eradicating  them,  should  be  the 
constant  aim  of  society.  Along  these  lines 
we  urge  upon  all  friends  of  children  the  pro- 
motion of  effective  measures,  including  leg- 
islation, to  prevent  blindness,  to  check  tuber- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY     443 

culosis  and  other  diseases  in  dwellings  and 
work  places,  and  injuries  in  hazardous  occu- 
pations, to  secure  compensation  or  insurance 
so  as  to  provide  a  family  income  in  case  of 
sickness,  accident,  death,  or  invalidism  of  the 
bread-winner;  to  promote  child  labor  reforms, 
and  generally,  to  improve  the  conditions  sur- 
rounding child  life.  To  secure  these  ends  we 
urge  efficient  co-operation  with  all  other 
agencies  for  social  betterment. 

"As  to  the  children  who  for  sufficient  reasons 
must  be  removed  from  their  own  homes, 
or  who  have  no  homes,  it  is  desirable  that, 
if  normal  in  mind  and  body,  and  not  requiring 
special  training,  they  should  be  cared  for  in 
families  whenever  practicable.  The  carefully 
selected  foster  home  is  for  the  normal  child 
the  best  substitute  for  the  natural  home. 
Such  homes  should  be  selected  by  a  most 
careful  process  of  investigation,  carried  on  by 
skilled  agents,  through  personal  investigation, 
and  with  due  regard  to  the  religious  faith  of 
the  child.  After  children  are  placed  in  homes, 
adequate  visitation,  with  careful  consideration 
of  the  physical,  mental,  moral  and  spiritual 
training   and   development    of    each   child. 


444     THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

on  the  part  of  the  responsible  home-finding 
agency,  is  essential." 

This  Congress  urged  upon  the  Federal  Con- 
gress the  passage  of  a  bill  creating  the  Child- 
ren's Bureau  in  the  Department  of  the  Interior 
to  collect  and  disseminate  information  affecting 
the  welfare  of  the  children.  Later,  in  the 
message  to  Congress,  President  Roosevelt 
redeemed  his  pledge  to  the  White  House  Con- 
gress by  sending  a  message  urging  the  passage 
of  the  bill.  While  reported  favorably,  the 
bill  has  not  yet  been  enacted  into  law. 
The  bill  provides : 

"That  the  said  Bureau  shall  be  under  the 
direction  of  a  chief,  to  be  appointed  by  the 
President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate,  and  who  shall  receive  an  annual 
compensation  of  five  thousand  dollars.  The 
said  Bureau  shall  investigate  and  report  upon 
all  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  child- 
ren and  child  life,  and  shall  especially  inves- 
tigate the  question  of  infant  mortality,  the 
birth  rate,  physical  degeneracy,  orphanage, 
juvenile  delinquency  and  juvenile  courts, 
desertion  and  illegitimacy,  dangerous  occupa- 
tions, accidents,  and  diseases  of  children  of  the 


t 


Statue  of  Liberty  on  Dome  of  Capitol,  Washington,  D.C. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  445 

working  classes,  employment,  legislation  af- 
fecting children  in  the  several  states  and  terri- 
tories, and  such  other  facts  as  have  a  bearing 
upon  the  health,  eflBciency,  character  and 
training  of  children.  The  chief  of  said  Bureau 
shall  from  time  to  time,  publish  the  results 
of  these  investigations." 

While  not  enacted  into  law,  the  importance 
of  the  measure  is  so  great  that  the  child  work- 
ers of  the  nation  will  not  cease  their  labors 
until  the  bill  is  finally  passed. 

On  April  1,  1909,  what  was  known  as  the 
children's  charter  became  effective  in  Great 
Britain.*  As  this  is  an  administrative  law, 
it  is  a  far  stronger  measure  than  that  embodied 

*"Baby  farming"  is  subjected  to  strict  supervision,  and  no 
child  may  be  kept  on  premises  that  are  overcrowded,  dangerous 
or  insanitary. 

Foster-parents  found  to  be  negligent,  ignorant,  drunken,  im- 
moral or  criminal  will  be  deprived  of  their  charges.  Insur- 
ance companies  are  forbidden  to  insure  the  life  of  a  nursing  child. 

Any  person  convicted  of  cruelty  resulting  in  the  death  of  a 
child  in  which  the  person  is  financially  interested  may  be  fined 
200  pounds  sterling  ($1,000)  with  five  years'  penal  servitude. 

Severe  punishment  is  provided  for  death  by  overlying  while 
the  parents  are  under  the  influence  of  drink. 

Children  under  7  years  may  not  be  left  in  a  room  containing 
an  open  fire  insufficiently  protected. 

Begging  or  receiving  alms  on  the  street  is  unlawful.  Juvenile 
smoking  is  supressed.  Policemen  must  confiscate  cigarettes 
aiid  cigarette  papers  found  in  the  possession  of  persons  under 
sixteen  years  of  age,  and  tobacconists  selling  such  property  to 
them  are  liable  to  a  fine.    Anyone  keeping   slot  machines   is 


446  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

in  the  Childrens'  Bureau  Bill,  which  is  only 
advisory.  Yet  careful  investigation  and  ad- 
vice by  the  federal  government  is  preferable 
to  the  old  way  of  ignorance  and  lack  of  res- 
ponsibility for  the  care  of  dependent,  destitute 
and  delinquent  children. 

In  the  future  conservation  will  be  a  word  of 
fuller  meaning  and  the  best  thought  of  the 
nation  without  doubt  will  be  turned  to  the 


liable  to  be  fined  one  pound  sterling  ($5.00 )  if  a  boy  get  cig- 
arettes from  them. 

Reformatories  and  industrial  schools  are  established  to  deal 
with  youthful  offenders,  and  incorrigible  children  may  be  placed 
under  the  supervision  of  probation  officers. 

No  person  under  fourteen  years  may  be  sentenced  to  death. 

In  heu  thereof,  the  court  shall  sentence  the  child  or  young 
person  to  be  detained  during  Parliament's  pleasure. 

No  child  may  be  sentenced  to  imprisonment  or  penal  servitude 
for  any  offence  of  any  default  in  the  payment  of  fines,  damages  or 
costs. 

Places  for  the  detention  of  youthful  criminals  are  to  be  opened 
in  all  the  petty  sessional  divisions;  special  juvenile  courts,  de- 
tached from  any  building  or  room  in  which  the  ordinary  sittings 
of  the  court  are  held,  are  to  be  provided,  and  every  effort  is  to 
be  made  both  before  and  after  the  trial  to  prevent  the  association 
of  children  with  adult  criminals. 

Parents  and  guardians  may  be  compelled  to  pay  fines,  costs 
or  damages  imposed  upon  children. 

Pawnbrokers  are  forbidden  to  take  any  article  from  a  person 
apparently  under  fourteen  years. 

Child  vagrancy  is  abolished. 

The  prevailing  practice  of  giving  infants  intoxicating  liquor 
comes  under  heavy  penalties  and  children  are  forbidden  to  enter 
saloons. 

There  are  rigid  regulations  against  overcrowding  at  children's 
entertainments. 

Parents  permitting  their  children  to  appear  in  school  in  an 
unclean  condition  may  be  brought  before  the  magistrates. 


I 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  447 

conservation  and  development  of  both  nat- 
ural and  human  resources.  As  a  part  of  this 
larger  work  the  nation  cannot  neglect  that 
other  line  of  service  which  expresses  itself  in 
the  development  of  that  which  is  aesthetic 
and  beautiful  for  it  is  "the  country  beautiful 
that  retains  the  love  of  its  citizens."  Says 
a  writer  in  the  Outlook,  "We  are  to  conserve 
the  soil,  the  forests,  the  minerals,  and  the 
waters;  we  can,  if  we  will,  and  if  we  plan  to 
that  end,  at  the  same  time  and  with  complete 
economy  preserve  and  increase  the  beauty, 
healthfulness,  and  habitability  of  our  country. " 

We  have  not  always  done  so,  for  while  as 
business  men  we  have  been  commended  for  our 
thrift,  we  have  also  been  prodigal  of  the  gifts 
of  nature  and  the  beauty  of  landscape  which 
was  ours  by  inheritance.  The  thought  that 
"beauty  pays"  a  nation  as  well  as  a  city,  is 
turning  the  attention  of  the  people  toward 
making  America  beautiful  in  all  its  parts. 

Augustus  Saint  Gaudens  well  expressed 
the  higher  artistic  thought  of  the  day  when 
he  said,  "The  love  of  beauty  makes  for  nobility 
and  elevation  of  life,  character  and  dignity  in 
our  surroundings,  as  truly  in  the  halls  of  law 
and  government  as  in  our  homes." 


448  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

That  George  Washington  was  actuated  by 
high  ideals  is  evidenced  by  the  genius  displayed 
in  the  laying  out  of  the  federal  city  and  in 
erection  of  permanent  buildings.  When  Con- 
gress had  ordered  the  planning  of  the  City  of 
Washington,  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
President  Washington  selected  Major  Pierre 
Charles  L'Enfant  to  make  the  plan.  Major 
L'Enfant  was  a  French  engineer  of  great 
promise  and  recognized  as  a  man  of  exquisite 
taste  and  consummate  skill  in  his  profession, 
yet  much  of  the  success  of  the  completed  plan 
is  due  to  the  constant  direction  and  minute 
supervision  of  Washington  and  his  Secretary 
of  State,  Jefferson.  All  that  goes  to  make  a 
city  a  work  of  art  was  wrought  into  these 
plans,  after  studying  all  the  great  models  of 
the  world.  "From  his  well-stocked  library, 
Jefferson  sent  to  L'Enfant  plans  *on  a  large 
and  accurate  scale'  of  Paris,  Amsterdam, 
Frankfort,  Carlsruhe,  Strasburg,  Orleans, 
Turin,  Milan,  and  other  European  Cities." 

The  plan  was  an  extensive  one  intended  for  a 
magnificent  seat  of  government,  yet  its 
development  was  so  slow  that  the  federal  city 
became    the    laughing    stock    of   the    world. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  449 

jokingly  called  "The  city  of  magnificent  dis- 
tances." 

During  the  first  fifty  years  of  the  Republic, 
the  Presidents  and  their  oflScial  families  strove 
to  maintain  the  beautiful  in  every  building 
and  monument  and  statue  erected.  Architects 
and  sculptors  of  great  renown,  brought  from 
all  lands,  entered  into  competition  for  the 
beautifying  of  the  federal  city.  The  legislative 
branch  of  the  government  was  opposed  to  this 
custom  of  selecting  by  merit,  so  that  during 
the  next  forty  years  this  work  fell  too  often 
into  the  hands  of  politicians  who,  lacking  the 
vision,  spoiled  much  of  the  original  plan,  erect- 
ing great  buildings  without  regard  to  their 
relationship  to  others. 

The  revival  of  national  interest  in  civic 
architecture  and  city  planning  following  the 
Chicago  Exposition  led  up  to  the  passage  of 
the  Tarsney  Bill,  which  gave  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  power  to  select  the  best  archi- 
tects by  competition  for  future  federal  build- 
ings. This  law  was  first  put  in  operation 
by  Lyman  J.  Gage,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
who  inaugurated  the  new  regime  of  federal 
art.    At    the    suggestion    of    the    American 


450      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Institute  of  Architects,  the  senate  appointed 
a  commission  to  study  and  report  upon  the 
future  development  of  Washington  City.     The 
commission  was  composed  of  Daniel  H.  Burn- 
ham,  Chas.  F.  McKim,  Frederick  Law  Olm- 
sted Jr.,  and  Augustus  Saint  Gaudens,  "men 
of  broad  experience  and  great  artistic  ability, 
who  had  proved  themselves  equals   of  the 
great   artists   of   the   world."    Their   report 
embodied  some  changes  and  suggestions  but 
for  the  most  part  it  was  a  reinstatement  and 
development  of  the  original  plan  of  L'Enfant. 
The  Commission  will  be  satisfied  if  all  of  their 
recommendations  are  carried  out  within  fifty 
years,  but  every  change  made  to  conform  to 
the  plan  is  a  step  toward  making  Washington 
the  city  beautiful.     That  all  ugly  spots  will 
be  eliminated  and  the  city  made  to  be  a  model 
for  all  other  cities  is  the  belief  of  the  lovers  of 
the  federal  city.     This  would  involve  absolute 
cleanliness,  the  abolition  of  the  slums,  a  high 
standard  of  both  municipal  and  private  im- 
provements and  a  splendid  development  of 
all  forms  of  civic  beauty. 

The  government  is  even  more  widely  in- 
fluencing art  and  architecture  throughout  the 


i 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  451 

nation  by  the  erection  of  all  of  its  public 
buildings,  not  only  in  a  substantial  manner 
fitted  to  last  through  centuries,  but  by  adopt- 
ing a  general  classic  form  which  has  displaced 
the  haphazard  method  of  years  gone  by. 
Thus  the  position  of  supervising  architect 
in  the  Treasury  Department  becomes  a  very 
important  oflSce.  As  an  aid  to  this  oflScial  and 
a  guide  to  Congress  in  all  matters  pertaining 
to  federal  structures.  President  Roosevelt 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  American  Institute 
of  Architects,  appointed  an  unoflScial  ministry 
of  fine  arts  to  whom  will  be  referred  for  advice 
all  matters  embracing  architecture,  selection 
of  sites,  landscape  work,  sculpture  and  paint- 
ing.* 


*The  membership  of  this  Council  is  as  follows: 
Architects. 
Cass  Gilbert  George  B.  Post 

C.  Grant  La  Farge  Arnold  W.  Brunner 
Walter  Cook  Robert  S.  Peabody 
William  A.  Boring  Charles  F.  McKim 
S.  B.  P.  Trowbridge  William  S.  Eames 
John  G.  Howard  James  Rush  Marshall 
Glenn  Brown  Abram  Garfield 
Thomas  R.  Kimball  Frank  Miles  Day 
John  L.  Mauran  William  B.  Mundie 

D.  H.  Bumham  C.  Howard  Walker 

John  H.  M.  Donaldson 

Footnote  oontinued  os  page  iS8* 


452  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  interest  in  the  things  beautiful  has 
spread  to  the  insular  possessions  and  an  effort 
is  being  made  by  the  nation  to  redeem  the 
ugly  in  every  place  under  federal  control. 
On  a  trip  around  the  world,  Mr.  Bumham 
was  asked  to  stop  at  Manila  and  make  a  plan 
for  the  reconstruction  of  that  city.  This 
he  did  with  marked  ability  and  all  improve- 
ments are  now  being  made  in  accordance  with 
this  plan.  Streets  are  being  straightened, 
shade-trees  and  tropical  foliage  planted  and 
waste  places  made  into  beautiful  parks.  The 
military  authorities  in  every  island  are  seeking 
to  bring  up  every  post  and  garrison  to  the 
ideal  set  for  them  in  the  Capital  City.  In 
this  way  the  original  Bumham  plan  becomes 
the  type  of  the  entire  archipelego. 

But  beauty  is  not  necessarily  artificial, 
for  the  best  examples  of  beauty  are  shown  in  the 
preservation  of  natural   scenery,   untouched 

Painters 
John  La  Farge  E.  H.  Blashfield 

F.  D.  Millet  Kenyon  Cox 

Sctdptors 
Daniel  C.  French  H.  A.  MacNeil 

Herbert  Adams  K.  T.  Bitter 

Landscape  Architect 
Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  Jr. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        453 

by  the  hands  of  man.  Only  within  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  has  the  nation  recognized 
its  duty  in  such  conservation,  and  by  act  of 
Congress  set  aside  certain  great  tracts  of  land 
which  shall  forever  be  used  as  public  parks 
and  pleasure-grounds  for  the  benefit  and  enjoy- 
ment of  the  people  and  as  game  preserves. 
When  relieved  from  the  fear  of  man,  the 
bear  and  antelope  become  as  tame  as  the 
watchdog  or  the  animals  in  a  private  pasture. 
The  principal  parks  thus  set  aside  are,  the 
Yellowstone,  located  in  Wyoming,  Montana 
and  Idaho,  having  an  area  of  2,14£,720  acres, 
and  an  average  altitude  of  8,000  feet,  and 
noted  for  its  wonderful  scenery,  geysers  and 
hot  springs;  the  Yosemite  in  California,  con- 
taining 719,622  acres,  embracing  a  valley  of 
most  wondrous  beauty;  the  Mount  Rainer 
in  Washington,  with  an  area  of  207,360  acres, 
preserving  for  all  time  the  grand  scenery  of  the 
mountain  for  which  the  park  is  named.  The 
Sequoia,  160,000  acres,  and  the  smaller  Gen- 
eral Grant  Park  are  located  in  California  and 
are  set  aside  not  only  to  preserve  the  natural 
scenery,  but  to  protect  the  great  sequoia  trees 
from  the  ruthless  axe  of  the  woodman.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  every  one  of  the  ten  groves 


454        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  giant,  centuries-old  sequoias  may  be  brought 
under  government  control  and  thus  kept  from 
destruction.  The  President  of  the  United 
States  under  a  recent  law  was  enabled  to  create 
out  of  the  public  and  unreserved  lands,  nine 
national  monuments,  among  them  being  the 
Petrified  Forest  in  Arizona,  The  Natural 
Bridges  in  Utah,  and  the  Muir  Woods  in 
California.  For  an  entirely  different  purpose, 
about  four  years  ago.  Congress  created  the 
Mesa  Verde  National  Park  in  Colorado,  \\dth 
an  area  on  41,920  acres.  The  act  authorizes 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  maintain  such 
a  service  as  is  necessary  for  the  preservation 
from  injury  or  spoliation  of  the  ruins  and  other 
works  and  relics  of  prehistoric  or  primitive 
man  within  the  limits  of  the  reservation,  and 
to  grant  permits  for  the  examination,  exca- 
vation, and  gathering  of  objects  of  antiquity 
by  any  person  or  persons  deemed  properly 
qualified  to  conduct  the  same,  provided  they 
are  undertaken  only  for  the  benefit  of  some 
reputable  museum,  university,  college,  or 
other  recognized  scientific  or  educational  in- 
stitution, with  a  view  to  increasing  the  know- 
ledge of  such  objects  and  aiding  the  general 
advancement  of  archaeological  science. 


^THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       465 

The  act  also  provides  that  all  prehistoric 
ruins  situated  within  five  miles  of  the  boun- 
daries of  the  park,  or  Indian  and  public  lands 
not  alienated  by  patent  from  the  ownership 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  under  the  cus- 
todianship of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
to  be  administered  by  the  same  service.  The 
latest  parks  to  be  established  by  the  govern- 
ment are;  the  Glacier  National  Park,  a  tract 
of  sixty  miles  in  northwestern  Montana  on 
the  Canadian  boundary  line,  the  apex  of  the 
continent  and  a  country  full  of  glaciers,  lakes 
and  dense  forests;  and  the  Wheeler  National 
Park  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  Colorado. 

In  every  part  of  the  land,  commercialism 
has  been  threatening  the  magnificent  natural 
attractions  of  the  country,  such  as  Niagara 
Falls,  the  highlands  of  the  Hudson,  and  the 
Appalachian  Mountains.  In  order  to  preserve 
this  scenery  for  the  people,  the  federal  govern- 
ment will  need  at  once  to  secure  control  of 
these  lands  and  set  them  apart  as  forests, 
parks,  and  monuments.  In  these  and  in  many 
other  new  ways  this  nation,  already  at  work 
in  human  uplift,  will  have  increasing  oppor- 
tunities for  service  to  all  the  people. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Army  of  Peace 

The  struggle  of  the  jungle  did  not  cease 
when  the  jungle  dwellers  were  united  into 
tribes  and  the  tribes,  conquered  by  stronger 
peoples  had  become  nations.  The  staple  of 
history  has  always  been  war.  ''Exhibiting 
the  most  forceful  as  well  as  the  most  brutal 
activity  of  men,  it  has  shaped  most  of  the  pri- 
mary conditions  of  life  for  all  communities  of 
the  human  race.  In  some  way  it  has  de- 
termined the  career  of  most  nations,  from  be- 
ginning to  end." 

Because  it  has  so  completely  dominated  the 
thought  and  life  of  the  world,  it  has  always 
been  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  truest  pro- 
gress. War  has  taken  its  heavy  toll  from 
every  nation,  not  only  of  money  but  of  lives. 
A  careful  statistician  claims  for  eleven  of  the 
great  wars,  a  cost  of  $11,105,000,000,  and 
of  3,081,000  lives.  But  what  census  taker 
will  ever  be  able  to  express  in  figures  the  social 
cost  as  revealed  in  broken  homes,  diverted 


Were  half  the  power  that  fills  the  world  with 

terror, 
Were  half  the  wealth  bestowed  on  camps 

and  courts. 
Given  to  redeem  the  human  mind  from  error, 
There  were  no  need  of  arsenals  or  forts. 

Longjellov). 


458       THE   BETTER   COUNTRY 

plans,  vices  developed,  brutal  passions  aroused 
and  industry  retarded?  What  country  will 
ever  be  able  to  pay  in  money  for  the  disease 
and  pain  and  lost  character,  the  sure  results 
of  every  campiagn?  If  this  cost  could  be 
expressed  in  dollars,  it  might  be  an  amount 
which  would  beggar  a  nation. 

It  may  be  true  that  war  for  war's  sake  has 
ceased  among  the  civilized  peoples,  but  the 
armed  neutrality  of  every  nation  as  represented 
by  its  standing  army  and  its  ships  of  war 
almost  equals  the  expenditure  devoted  to 
civil  government.  The  workers  of  Europe  are 
called  upon  yearly  to  give  4,000,000  of  their 
stalwart  sons  for  the  army  and  the  navy. 
These  young  men  who  might  have  been  en- 
gaged in  productive  industry,  and  in  the  build- 
ing of  homes  are  drawn  away  from  this 
constructive  work  to  be  trained  in  the  fearful 
art  of  killing.  To  maintain  these  military 
establishments  in  time  of  peace,  the  annual 
cost  is  one  billion  and  a  half  of  dollars,  obtained 
through  the  governmental  revenues  and  the 
direct  taxes. 

In  feverish  haste,  every  nation  is  building 
its  dreadnaughts  costing  from  $5,000,000  to 


THE    BETTER    COUNTRY      459 

$15,000,000.  The  search  for  denser  armor, 
for  stronger  guns  and  more  powerful  projec- 
tiles is  more  strenuous  than  the  search  for 
gold.  Warships  for  the  air  and  torpedo  boats 
for  the  deep  sea  will  make  war  more  terrible 
and  more  costly.  Our  own  land  is  not  free 
from  these  bankrupting  tendencies.  Read 
the  war  expense  for  one  year  of  peace  as  shown 
in  the  supply  bills  of  the  United  States: 

Army $101,197,470.34 

Fortifications 8,170,111.00 

Military  Academy 2,531,521.33 

Navy 136,935,199.05 

Think  for  a  moment  what  might  be  a 
accomplished  if  this  vast  amount  could  be 
diverted  to  the  constructive  side  of  the  work 
of  nation  building. 

The  contention  of  this  chapter  is  that  the 
time  is  rapidly  coming  when  war  will  cease, 
and  we  will  have  an  organized  army  of  peace 
to  do  the  great  things  worth  doing,  digging  the 
canals,  draining  the  swamps,  dredging  the 
harbors  and  waterways,  reclaiming  the  desert, 
cleansing  the  tropics,  and  bearing  the  white 
man's  burden,  in  many  lands  where  the  people 
are  struggling  upward  toward  the  light. 


460  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Yet  a  vast  amount  of  work  must  be  done 
before  this  ideal  shall  find  fulfillment,  and  the 
horrors  of  war  shall  be  supplanted  by  the 
glories  of  peace.  Education,  formation  of 
public  opinion,  and  world  organization  are 
methods  by  which  ethical  sentiments  may  be 
transformed  into  the  dynamos  of  action,  and 
discussion  brought  to  the  stage  of  accompHsh- 
ment. 

We  call  this  process  a  movement,  a  great 
peace  movement,  and  as  such  it  is  well  worthy 
of  careful  study  by  everyone  who  wishes  to 
have  a  part  in  the  making  of  history.  We  of 
the  20th  Century  are  not  the  first  to  realize 
the  evils  of  war  and  pray  for  the  coming  of 
peace.  Noble  souls  throughout  the  centuries 
have  felt  the  truth  of  the  saying  of  Horace 
Mann.  "If  a  thousandth  part  of  what  has 
been  expended  in  war  and  preparing  its  mighty 
engines  had  been  devoted  to  the  development 
of  reason  and  the  diffusion  of  Christian  prin- 
ciples, nothing  would  have  been  known  for 
centuries  past  of  its  terrors,  its  sufferings,  its 
impoverishment,  and  its  demoralization,  but 
what  was  learned  from  history." 

Let  us  review  the  story  of  the  work  of  the 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  461 

great  peace-inspired  souls;  of  the  dreamers 
as  well  as  the  doers.  Nearly  seventy  years 
ago,  there  began  a  most  remarkable  series  of 
Peace  Congresses  led  by  such  men  as  Elihu 
Burrett,  Amasa  Walker,  John  Bright,  Rich- 
ard Cobden  and  Victor  Hugo.  These  Con- 
gresses were  held  at  London  in  1843;  Brussels 
in  1848;  Paris  in  1849;  Frankfort  in  1850; 
London  in  1851;  Edinburgh  in  the  spring 
of  1853,  and  in  Glasgow  in  the  fall  of  the  same 
year. 

The  Civil  War  and  the  Crimean  War  stopped 
the  agitation  for  peace  and  it  was  not  until 
the  Paris  Exposition  in  1878  that  the  subject 
of  peace  again  received  public  attention. 
Beginning  again  in  1889,  Peace  Congresses 
have  become  almost  an  annual  event,  having 
been  held  in  Paris,  London,  Rome,  Berne, 
Chicago,  Antwerp,  Budapest,  Hamburg,  Paris 
Glasgow,  Monaco,  Rouen,  Boston  and  Lucerne. 

Another  powerful  agent  for  peace  has  been 
the  Inter-parliamentary  Union,  originated 
by  Hon.  Wm.  Randolph  Cremer,  the  English 
Carpenter  and  Trade  Unionist,  member  of  the 
British  Parliament,  and  Secretary  of  the 
International  Arbitration  League.    Mr.  Cre- 


462  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

mer  in  1887  was  the  bearer  of  a  memorial 
from  England  to  the  President  and  Congress 
of  the  United  States  in  support  of  an  arbitra- 
tion treaty.  Failing  in  this  mission,  in  the 
following  year  he  gathered  in  Paris  a  few 
members  of  the  pariiaments  of  Great  Britain 
and  France  for  further  discussion  of  arbitra- 
tion as  a  means  for  the  preservation  of  the 
peace  of  the  worid.  This  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  an  association  known  as  the 
Inter-pariiamentary  Union,  with  the  celebrated 
peace  worker,  Frederick  Passy,  as  president. 
This  Union  has  grown  in  numbers  until  it  is 
the  unofficial  representative  of  all  of  the  parlia- 
ments of  the  worid,  with  a  membership  of 
over  2,000  men.  The  meetings  are  usually 
held  in  the  pariiament  buildings  of  the  various 
nations.  The  Honorable  Richard  Barthold, 
member  of  Congress  from  Missouri  is  presi- 
dent of  the  American  group,  and  author  of  the 
resolution  asking  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  call  a  conference  of  nations.  After 
years  of  discussion  of  peace  topics,  the  Union 
has  adopted  a  platform  with  the  following 
planks:  a  regular  international  parliament,  a 
general     arbitration    treaty,    the    limitation 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         46S 

of  national  armaments,  the  immunity  of  all 
unoffending  private  property  at  sea  in  time  of 
war,  report  by  an  impartial  commission  upon 
contested  issues  between  nations  not  settled 
by  diplomacy  or  arbitration,  before  any  hos- 
tilities, and  provision  by  governments  them- 
selves for  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  peace 
and  mutual  understanding  between  nations. 
Among  the  early  leaders  of  peace  should  be 
mentioned  the  Baroness  Bertha  Von  Suttner, 
who  by  her  book  "Lay  Down  Your  Arms" 
inspired  many  others  to  labor  for  the  salvation 
of  the  world  from  the  horrors  of  war.  She 
founded  the  Austrian  Peace  Society  and  ever 
labored  in  her  own  and  other  lands  for  the 
cause  so  near  her  heart.  Through  the  reading 
of  "Lay  Down  Your  Arms,"  Mr.  Alfred  Nobel, 
the  manufacturer  of  explosives,  gave  his 
entire  fortune  to  the  cause  of  peace.  Out  of 
the  income  from  this  great  gift,  $40,000  each 
year  is  granted  to  the  person  who  has  done 
the  greatest  work  during  the  past  twelve 
months  in  forwarding  this  cause.  The  first 
year  the  prize  went  to  the  venerable  Frederick 
Passy,  the  second  to  Mr.  Cremer  and  the  third 
to  the  Baroness  Von  Suttner,  whom  Frederick 


464  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Passy  has  called  the  "General-in-chief  of  the 
World's  Army  of  Peace."  The  prize  then 
came  to  President  Roosevelt,  for  his  services 
in  bringing  about  the  Treaty  of  Peace  at 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  between  Japan  and  Russia. 
President  Roosevelt  immediately  gave  the 
amount  of  the  prize  to  the  cause  of  bringing 
about  industrial  peace. 

It  is  to  the  Czar  of  Russia  that  the  credit 
goes  for  the  calling  of  the  First  Peace  Confer- 
ence at  the  Hague,  although  suggested  to  him 
by  the  work  of  the  Parliamentary  Union.  The 
following  communication  was  handed  by  the 
Russian  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  all  the 
foreign  representatives  in  St.  Petersburg: 

"The  maintenance  of  general  peace  and  the 
possible  reduction  of  the  excessive  armaments 
which  weigh  upon  all  nations  present  them- 
selves in  existing  conditions  to  the  whole 
world  as  an  ideal  toward  which  the  endeavors 
of  all  governments  should  be  directed. 

"The  humanitarian  and  magnanimous  ideas 
of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor,  my  august  master, 
have  been  won  over  to  this  view  in  the  con- 
viction that  this  lofty  aim  is  in  conformity  with 
the  most  essential  interests  and  legitimate 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  465 

views  of  all  the  powers;  and  the  imperial 
government  thinks  the  present  moment  would 
be  very  favorable  to  seeking  the  means. 

"International  discussion  is  the  most  ef- 
fectual means  of  insuring  all  peoples'  benefit — 
a  real,  durable  peace,  above  all,  putting  an 
end  to  the  progressive  development  of  the 
present  armaments. 

"In  the  course  of  the  last  twenty  years 
the  longing  for  general  appeasement  has  grown 
especially  pronounced  in  the  consciences  of 
civilized  nations;  and  the  preservation  of 
peace  has  been  put  forward  as  an  object  of 
international  policy.  It  is  in  its  name  that 
great  states  have  concluded  between  them- 
selves powerful  alliances. 

"Nevertheless,  all  these  efforts  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  bring  about  the  beneficient  result 
desired — pacification. 

"The  financial  charges  following  the  upward 
march  strike  at  the  very  root  of  public  pros- 
perity. The  intellectual  and  physical  strength 
of  the  nation's  labor  and  capital  are  mostly 
diverted  from  their  natural  application  and 
are  unproductively  consumed. 


466       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

"Hundreds  of  millions  are  devoted  to  ac- 
quiring terrible  engines  of  destruction,  which, 
though  today  regarded  as  the  last  word  of 
science,  are  destined  tomorrow  to  lose  all  their 
value  in  consequence  of  some  fresh  discovery 
in  the  same  fields. 

"National  culture,  economic  progress,  and 
the  production  of  wealth  are  either  paralyzed 
or  checked  in  development.  Moreover,  in 
proportion  as  the  armaments  of  the  powers 
increase,  they  less  and  less  fulfill  the  objects 
the  governments  have  set  before  themselves. 

"The  economic  crisis,  due  in  great  part  to 
the  system  of  armaments  a  outrance,  and  the 
continual  danger  which  lies  in  this  massing  of 
war  material,  are  transforming  the  armed 
peace  of  our  days  into  a  crushing  burden 
which  the  people  have  more  and  more  diflS- 
culty  in  bearing. 

"It  appears  evident  that  if  this  state  of 
things  were  to  be  prolonged  it  would  inevita- 
bly lead  to  the  very  cataclysm  it  is  desired  to 
avert,  and  the  horrors  whereof  make  every 
thinking  being  shudder  in  advance. 

"To  put  an  end  to  these  incessant  arma- 
ments and  to  seek  the  means  of  warding  oflF 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        467 

the  calamities  which  are  threatening  the  whole 
world — such  is  the  supreme  duty  today  im- 
posed upon  all  states. 

'Tilled  with  this  idea,  his  Majesty  has  been 
pleased  to  command  me  to  propose  to  all  the 
governments  whose  representatives  are  cred- 
ited to  the  Imperial  Court,  the  assembling  of  a 
conference  which  shall  occupy  itself  with  this 
grave  problem. 

"This  conference  will  be,  by  the  help  of  God, 
a  happy  presage  for  the  century  which  is  about 
to  open.  It  would  converge  into  one  power- 
ful focus  the  efforts  of  all  states  sincerely  seek- 
ing to  make  the  great  conception  of  universal 
peace  triumph  over  the  elements  of  trouble 
and  discord,  and  it  would,  at  the  same  time 
cement  their  agreement  by  a  corporate  con- 
secration of  the  principles  of  equity  and  right 
whereon  rest  the  security  of  states  and  the 
welfare  of  peoples." 

This  conference  composed  of  one  hundred 
delegates  representing  twenty-six  powers,  as- 
sembled in  The  Hague,  May  18,  1899,  con- 
tinuing till  July  29.  The  United  States  was 
represented  by  Honorable  Andrew  Dickson 
White,  Honorable  Seth  Low,  Hon.    Stanford 


468      THE    BETTER    COUNTRY 

Newell,  Hon.  Frederick  Wm.  Holds,  Capt. 
Alfred  T.  Mahan  and  General  Wm.  Crozier. 
Other  countries  represented  were,  Germany, 
Austria-Hungary,  Belgium,  China,  Denmark, 
Spain,  Mexico,  France,  Great  Britain,  Greece, 
Italy,  Japan,  Luxemburg,  Montenegro,  the 
Netherlands,  Persia,  Portugal,  Roumania, 
Russia,  Servia,  Siam,  Sweden  and  Norway, 
Switzerland,  Turkey  and  Bulgaria. 

While  the  net  results  of  this  conference  were 
not  great  in  regard  to  the  immediate  disarma- 
ment of  the  nations,  the  creation  of  the  perma- 
nent Court  of  Arbitration  by  this  conference 
paved  the  way  for  the  coming  of  the  future 
Parliament  of  Man. 

Our  government  has  stood  for  the  establish- 
ment of  such  a  court  for  many  years.  In  1 872, 
Mr.  Sumner  introduced  in  the  Senate  a  resolu- 
tion proposing  a  permanent  court  to  be 
clothed  with  such  authority  as  to  make  it  a 
complete  substitute  for  war. 

In  1889  the  United  States  government 
called  a  conference  of  representatives  from 
the  states  of  North  and  South  America  to 
discuss  arbitration,  and  the  delegates  to  the 
Hague  Peace  Conference  received  instructions 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       469 

from  Secretary  Hay  to  propose  a  plan  for  such 
an  international  tribunal.  This  Hague  Court 
is  described  by  a  writer  as  resembling  some- 
what the  supreme  court  of  the  state  of  New 
York,  the  members  of  which  never  sit  all 
together,  but  singly,  or  in  groups,  as  the 
occasion  may  demand.  All  the  governments 
which  originally  signed  The  Hague  Conven- 
tion, and  all  those  who  shall  adhere  to  it,  are 
entitled  to  appoint  four  members  of  the 
permanent  court.  The  four  American  mem- 
bers of  the  permanent  court  were  Chief  Justice 
Fuller,  Hon.  John  W.  Griggs,  Hon.  George 
Gray,  and  Hon.  Oscar  S.  Straus.  Twenty- 
two  governments  appointed  representatives, 
though  in  come  cases  less  than  four,  making  in 
all  a  permanent  bench  of  seventy-two  judges, 
from  whom  are  chosen  one  or  more  arbitrators 
who  sit  as  a  court  in  each  particular  case. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  tribunal,  as  fixed  by 
The  Hague  Convention,  is  confined  to  legal 
questions  and  especially  to  those  involving 
treaties.  But  in  the  convention  is  a  recom- 
mendation to  the  powers  having  international 
differences  involving  neither  honor  nor  vital 
interests,    and  arising   from   a   diflFerence   of 


470      THE  BETTER   COUNTRY 

opinion  on  points  of  fact,  that  they  institute 
an  International  Commission  of  Inquiry  to 
facilitate  a  solution  of  these  differences. 

The  United  States  government  was  the  first 
to  make  use  of  this  tribunal  at  The  Hague, 
for  settlement  the  Pious  Fund  Claims,  between 
this  nation  and  Mexico,  the  award  being  in 
favor  of  the  United  States.  Other  controver- 
sies that  have  been  settled  by  this  court  of 
Arbitration  and  thus  saving  possible  war  were 
the  Japanese  House  Tax  case  between  Japan 
on  the  one  side  and  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Germany  on  the  other;  the  Venezuelan  Prefer- 
ential Payment  case,  between  the  three  powers 
which  blockaded  the  ports  of  Venezuela  and 
the  seven  pacific  powers  having  claims  against 
the  Venezuelan  government;  the  Muscat  con- 
troversy between  Great  Britain  and  France 
over  their  respective  treaty  rights  in  that 
country,  and  the  trouble  between  Great 
Britain  and  Russia  caused  by  the  Russian 
Black  Sea  fleet  firing  on  British  fishermen. 
It  is  hoped  that  international  cases  in  increas- 
ing numbers  may  be  referred  to  this  court. 
One  result  of  the  creation  and  use  of  this 
tribunal  has  been  the  signing  of  arbitration 


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THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         471 

treaties   between   nearly   all   of  the  leading 
nations."* 

In  order  properly  to  house  this  Hague 
Court,  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  who  has  always 
been  a  strong  advocate  for  peace,  gave  the 
Dutch  government  in  trust  $1,500,000  to  build 
at  the  Hague  a  peace  palace.  Holland  ac- 
cepted the  gift  and  bought  sixteen  acres  near 
the  heart  of  the  city  on  which  the  palace  was 
to  be  built,  donating  this  site  to  the  Carnegie 
Fund.  After  competition  by  two  hundred  and 
seventeen  architects  from  almost  every  coun- 
try of  the  world,  the  award  for  the  best  plan 
was  made  to  L.  M.  Cordonnier  of  Lille,  France, 
who  received  the  prize  of  $4,800.  At  the  lay- 
ing of  the  corner  stone,  the  president  of  the 

*FROM  ADDRESS  BY  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  KNOX 
TO  VISITING  JAPANESE  COMMERCIAL  COMMIS- 
SIONERS AT  WASHINGTON  IN  OCTOBER,  1909. 
But  the  great  modem  movement  of  accord  and  good  under^ 
standing  between  nations  are,  after  all,  the  lofty  achievements 
and  the  crown  of  all  international  relations. 

The  controlling  principle  of  these  movements  is  peaceful  and 
beneficial  intercourse  and  the  peaceful  settlement  by  arbitration 
of  differences  and  controversies — extending  that  principle  by 
friendly  diplomacy  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  embrace  an  increasing 
number  and  variety  of  disputes,  and  ultimately,  by  voluntary 
international  compacts,  making  peaceful  settlements  of  all  differ- 
ences compulsory,  or  practically  so. 


472       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

day  concluded  his  address  with  these  words: 

"This  is  to  be  a  palace  of  international 
justice  founded  as  an  outcome  of  the  need  of 
every  civilized  community  to  institute  the 
rule  of  right  for  the  rule  of  might.  In  this 
palace  no  one  will  be  stronger  or  no  one  weaker 
than  the  other,  and  no  other  blade  except  the 
sword  of  justice  will  be  placed  in  the  scale." 
That  this  peace  palace  may  become  the  capital 
of  the  world,  is  the  hope  of  many,  for  they 
think  they  see  in  forming  "The  United  States  I 
of  the  World,"  and  they  are  looking  forward 
to  the  time  of  which  Tennyson  spoke  in 
Locksley  Hall  when 

"The  war-drum  throbb'd  no  longer,  and  the 

battle-flags  were  furl'd 
In  the  parliament  of  man,  the  federation  of  the 

world." 

When  the  First  Hague  Conference  ad- 
journed in  1899,  it  was  expected  that  the  Czai 
would  call  another  world  Conference  in  a  vei 
short  time,  but  the  Japanese  war  made  thij 
impossible.  The  Inter-Parliamentary  Unioi 
then  urged  that  President  Roosevelt  take  th< 
initiative  and  he  responded  by  sounding  th( 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         473 

representatives  of  the  various  nations  on  the 
matter,  receiving  favorable  answers  from  a 
number.  Russia  begged  for  delay  until  the 
close  of  her  war,  and  not  only  was  this  request 
granted,  but  President  Roosevelt  yielded  to 
the  Czar  the  honor  of  calling  the  Second  Hague 
Conference.  The  response  was  hearty  and  in 
June,  1907,  the  representatives  of  forty-five 
independent  powers  met  at  the  Hague  and  for 
four  months  continued  to  discuss  without 
animosity  some  of  the  most  delicate  inter- 
national questions.  Although  this  conference 
did  not  declare  for  entire  disarmament  of  the 
nations  as  many  hoped  it  would  do,  enough 
was  accomplished  to  demonstrate  that  a 
universal  congress  of  this  character  is  possible 
and  that  certain  great  principles  of  construc- 
tive action  are  now  beyond  dispute.  A 
writer  in  the  Review  of  Reviews  specified  the 
following  propositions  as  established  by  this 
Conference,  viz.:  "that  peace  is  the  normal 
and  war  the  abnormal  condition  of  civilized 
nations;  that  the  relations  of  sovereign  states 
are  properly  based  on  principles  of  justice, 
and  not  upon  force;  that  really  sovereign 
states  should  have  equal  rights  before  the  bar 


474       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  international  justice,  independently  of  their 
size  or  military  strength;  that  disputes  between 
governments  should  be  settled,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, by  judicial  methods,  and  not  by  war;  and 
that  war,  if  inevitable,  is  an  evil  whose  disas- 
trous consequences  —  especially  as  regards 
neutrals,  non-combatants,  the  sick  and  the 
woimded — should  by  general  agreement  be 
reduced  to  a  minimum." 

This  Conference  recommended  the  crea- 
tion in  addition  to  the  tribunal  of  justice,  of  a 
Court  of  Arbitral  Justice.  The  distinction 
between  the  two  bodies  was  stated  by  Secre- 
tary of  State  Root  in  his  instructions  to  the 
delegation  to  urge  the  measure  at  the  Hague. 
He  said,  "It  has  been  a  very  general  practice 
for  arbitrators  to  act,  not  as  judges  deciding 
questions  of  fact  and  law  upon  the  record 
before  them  imder  a  sense  of  judicial  respon- 
sibility, but  as  negotiators  effecting  settle- 
ments of  the  questions  brought  before  them 
in  accordance  with  the  traditions  and  usages 
and  subject  to  all  the  considerations  and  in- 
fluences, which  affect  diplomatic  agents.  If 
there  could  be  a  tribunal  which  would  pass 
upon  questions  between  nations  with  the  same 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         475 

impartial  and  impersonal  judgment  that  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  gives  to 
questions  arising  between  citizens  of  the 
different  states  or  between  foreign  citizens  and 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  nations  would  be  much  more 
ready  to  submit  their  controversies  to  its 
decision  than  they  are  now  to  take  the  chances 
of  arbitration." 

The  United  States  has  taken  the  first  step 
looking  toward  the  establishment  of  this  Court 
by  the  appointment  of  a  special  counsel  who 
will  hasten  the  movement.  The  third  con- 
ference, it  is  almost  universally  believed,  will 
agree  upon  this  subject  and  will  take  a  forward 
stand  on  making  arbitration  obligatory,  on 
demanding  at  least  gradual  disarmament  and 
will  it  is  hoped  call  for  a  world  organization 
with  some  form  of  world  executive  backed  by  a 
world  Congress  or  Parliament,  to  meet  in  the 
Palace  of  Peace.  That  this  is  no  mere  dream 
for  the  future  is  the  belief  of  the  thousands 
of  peace  lovers  assembled  in  national  peace  and 
arbitration  societies  and  of  the  increasing 
number  annually  meeting  at  the  Lake  Mohonk 
Conference,  and  in  the  various  international 
peace  gatherings. 


476       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  year  1915  will  go  down  in  history  as  a 
memorable  date,  for  in  that  year  will  meet 
this  Third  Hague  Conference  and  the  Panama 
Canal  will  be  finished,  changing  the  course  of 
commerce  of  the  world  and  forwarding  the 
cause  of  peace  through  bringing  all  nations 
into  a  closer  fellowship. 

Although  it  has  a  war  record  that  stains  the 
pages  of  history  with  blood,  still  the  United 
States  is  a  peace-making  nation.  *'Two  gen- 
erations ago  it  was  the  American  delegates  in 
European  peace  congresses  who,  when  nobody 
else  then  did  it,  talked  persistently  of  a  w  orld 
court;  and  the  plan  was  known  in  popular 
European  parlance  as  'the  American  plan'. 
Baron  D'Estournelles  has  said  often  and 
strongly  that  it  was  because  America  took 
the  Hague  Tribunal  seriously  and  first  put  it 
to  use,  that  it  came  so  quickly  to  honor  and 
power.  Other  governments  might  have  medi- 
ated between  Russia  and  Japan,  but  the 
American  government  did  it,  and  the  most 
terrible  of  modern  wars,  there  on  the  plains  of 
Asia,  was  brought  to  an  end  at  Kittery  Navy 
Yards." 

Through  the  good  oflSces  of  this  nation  three 


M 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         477 

Pan-American  Conferences  have  been  held, 
one  in  Washington,  the  second  in  Mexico,  the 
third  in  Rio  Janeiro  and  the  fourth  is  to  be  held 
in  Buenos  Aires.  This  conference  at  Rio 
Janeiro  was  especially  helpful  because  of 
the  presence  of  Secretary  of  State  Root  who 
swayed  the  people  through  his  oratory  and 
brought  together  contending  nations  through 
his  diplomacy.  A  writer  describing  the  con- 
ference, says :  "Secretary  Root's  trip  thereafter 
through  the  Continent  became  a  triumph,  and 
everywhere  he  left  behind  him  a  new  under- 
standing, a  new  national  friend  and  new  hopes. 
Already  the  result  of  this  is  shown  in  increased 
commercial  intercourse,  in  plans  for  education 
and  mutual  development  along  harmonious 
lines.  Treaties,  compacts,  and  agreements 
have  followed  or  will  follow  that  visit  for 
years  to  come.  And  the  Bureau  of  South- 
American  Republics  today  is  a  living,  practi- 
cal, valuable  establishment  for  the  common 
weal  of  sixteen  western  countries." 

Knowing  of  the  wars  between  the  central 
American  states,  Secretary  Root  devised  a 
plan  and  persuaded  the  states  to  inaugurate 
at   Cartugo    a   central   American    court   of 


478      THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

justice.  "In  other  words,  the  Secretary  of 
State  had  practically  given  to  the  countries  a 
system  of  international  law  and  procedure  by 
which  wars  became  unlikely  and  revolutions 
unprofitable.  The  court  has  been  tested  and 
its  mandates  obeyed." 

There  is  no  greater  guarantee  of  Pan- 
American  peace  than  that  shown  in  the  erec- 
tion of  the  new  building  of  the  Bureau  of 
American  Republics,  not  far  from  the  White 
House  in  Washington.  This  will  be  "the 
first  international  temple  of  peace,  friendship 
and  commerce;  the  tangible  evidence  of  the 
desire  of  the  twenty-one  American  Republics 
that  war  shall  be  no  more  in  the  Western  world 
and  that  material  prosperity  promoted  by 
international  trade  shall  take  its  place." 
Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  has  given  $750,000  for 
the  building  fund  and  each  of  the  republics  has 
added  an  appropriation.  This  temple  is  to 
be  made  the  centre  of  a  continuous  campaign 
of  education,  where  one  country  may  obtain 
accurate  and  recent  information  of  any  other. 
A  library  on  all  subjects  American  is  to  be 
secured,  and  by  every  possible  means  the 
American   governments   are   to   be   brought 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       479 

closer  together  with  intimate  acquaintance- 
ship. This  building  will  contain  the  "Hall  of 
American  Ambassadors"  which  will  provide  a 
room  for  international  conventions,  receptions 
to  distinguished  foreigners,  and  for  diplomatic 
and  social  events.  Truly  may  it  be  said  that 
"peace  is  the  sister  of  freedom,  the  guardian 
of  democracy,  the  handmaid  of  progress." 

This  century  may  yet  witness  the  closing  of 
the  gates  of  the  Temple  of  Janus  to  open  no 
more  throughout  the  ages. 

While  the  organized  societies  of  the  world 
are  doing  their  work  for  peace,  much  is  being 
done  in  other  ways  for  constructive  peace. 
We  recall  the  remark  of  Dr.  Hale  when  he 
said  that  the  government  which  has  a  Secre- 
tary of  War  and  not  a  Secretary  of  Peace  will 
not  be  considered  fit  for  civilized  society. 
Perhaps  it  was  this  thought  which  led  up  to 
the  introduction  into  the  Massachusetts  legis- 
lature of  a  resolution  urging  Congress  to  es- 
tablish at  Washington  an  educational  institu- 
tion for  the  study  of  international  law,  its 
purpose  to  be,  "increasing  knowledge  of 
international  relations,  and  to  promote  inter- 
national comity  to  the  end  that  friendship  with 


480         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

all  nations  may  be  furthered,  in  order  that  the 
vast  sums  of  money  now  wastefully  used  in 
the  maintenance  of  a  great  military  establish- 
ment may  largely  be  saved  for  the  well-being  of 
the  people." 

Quarrels  between  neighbors  are  passing; 
feuds  are  considered  barbaric;  duels  between 
gentlemen  are  nearly  ended;  fighting  between 
nations  will  soon  be  considered  as  disgraceful 
as  fighting  between  individual  men.  Some  of 
the  facts  which  will  back  up  this  assurance  of 
the  coming  of  permanent  peace  readily  occur 
to  the  mind  of  any  thoughtful  student.  The 
airship  may  mean  an  end  of  the  armies  in  ten 
years,  for  its  use  will  make  the  great  engines  of 
war  as  useless  as  the  battering  ram.  Further- 
more, Prof.  Graham  Taylor  points  out  that 
there  is  an  industrial  basis  for  international 
peace.  *'War  becomes  more  and  more  im- 
possible, peace  more  and  more  necessary,  as 
nation  becomes  more  and  more  dependent 
upon  nation  not  only  for  its  profits  but  for  its 
very  living." 

Harold  Bolce,  in  his  "New  International- 
ism," says,  "As  international  trade  grows  and 
credit  expands,  as  the  commitments  of  finan- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  481 

ciers  in  different  lands  multiply,  and  as  in- 
dustrial connections  ramify  across  the  oceans, 
the  resulting  panic  when  war  disturbs  one 
nation  will  be  so  disastrous  to  all  nations  that 
financiers,  who  control  statesmen,  will  forbid 
the  declaration  of  war." 

The  world  is  growing  smaller — the  telegraph 
and  cable  make  of  us  all  next  door  neighbors. 
Every  new  steamship  line  makes  it  easier  to 
know  the  Antipodes.  The  missionary  and  the 
globetrotter  are  ever  ready  to  describe  the 
characteristics  of  unknown  peoples  while 
visiting  commissions,  exchange  of  teachers, 
and  students  studying  in  foreign  schools  all 
make  for  a  larger  fellowship  and  a  world-wide 
brotherhood.  "If  nations  become  interested 
in  one  another,  war  must  soon  become  an 
anachronism,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "for  the 
triumph  of  rival  dynasties,  or  even  the  successes 
of  rival  churches  do  not  interest  the  common 
people  today  as  much  as  do  the  great  social 
questions  of  a  living  wage,  a  good  school,  a 
home-site  and  an  equality  of  opportunity. 
To  them  the  wreckage  of  war  only  retards  the 
movement  which  is  dearer  to  them  than 
victories  of  battle." 


482       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  knowledge  of  the  horrors  of  war  has 
aroused  a  strong  aversion  to  militarism  in  all 
lands,  and  the  demand  to  arbitrate  rather 
than  to  fight  is  insistent,  especially  on  the 
part  of  the  common  people. 

Universal  brotherhood  is  illustrated  in  the 
great  international  gatherings  so  common  in 
these  later  years.  The  International  Insti- 
tute of  Agriculture,  inaugurated  by  the  king 
of  Italy  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  David  Lubin 
of  California;  the  International  Postal  Union 
which  has  accomplished  much  for  the  inter- 
communication of  the  peoples  of  the  world; 
the  Society  of  International  law,  copying  and 
making  uniform  the  laws,  world-wide  in  appU- 
cation — these,  and  many  other  similar  organi- 
zations are  surely  hastening  the  coming  of  the 
federation  of  the  world. 

Not  many  years  ago  Chili  and  Argentina 
were  about  to  be  embroiled  in  war.  There 
were  disputes  and  bitter  feelings  and  military 
preparations  for  war  on  the  part  of  both  na- 
tions. The  peace-lovers  plead  for  arbitration 
and  their  request  was  granted.  The  settle- 
ment of  this  dispute  was  more  far-reaching 
than  was  dreamed  of   by  the  arbitrators  for 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  483 

it  not  alone  brought  peace  to  contending 
nations  but  it  enthroned  a  new  ideal  of  peace, 
and  brotherhood — they  who  were  prepared  for 
war,  were  now  ready  for  peace.  Melting  the 
cannon,  they  cast  the  bronze  into  a  mighty 
statue  of  the  Christ  and  placed  it  on  the 
highest  summit  of  the  Andes.  From  that 
lofty  height,  the  Prince  of  Peace  will  through 
the  centuries  send  forth  his  message  of  "peace 
on  earth,  good  will  toward  men." 

Have  not  our  friends  in  the  southern  conti- 
nent given  us  an  example  worthy  to  be  fol- 
lowed? We  have  erected  statues  to  the 
followers  of  Mars  in  every  plaza  in  every 
town;  but  as  yet  few  have  been  erected  to  the 
heroes  of  peace.  If  ideals  have  their  value, 
then  let  there  be  statues  and  stories  of  the 
"work-a-day"  heroes.  Carnegie's  hero  fund 
is  of  greater  value  to  the  nation  than  are  the 
warships  built  at  the  cost  of  millions  of  dollars. 
The  man  who  carried  the  message  to  Garcia, 
and  Eben  Brewer,  who  sent  the  soldiers'  letters 
home  from  Cuba,  are  rightly  honored.  Be- 
cause of  this  **Hero  Fund,"  many  heroes  of 
everyday  life  receive  the  honor  worthy  of  their 
deeds  of  valor. 


484       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

A  new  education  of  children  in  the  ideals  of 
peace  has  many  advocates.  School  histories 
are  largely  the  record  of  the  details  of  wars, 
giving  an  impression  that  war  is  the  most 
glorious  form  of  human  activity.  Mr.  Brown 
in  his  report  as  Commissioner  of  Education, 
says:  "Governments,  in  striving  to  maintain 
an  honorable  peace,  require  the  reinforcement 
of  popular  sentiment,  and  it  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  that  such  public  sentiment  should 
steadily  demand  a  peace  which  makes  for 
righteousness,  and  no  other  peace  than  that 
which  will  make  for  righteousness.  A  public 
sentiment  calling  for  such  peace  will  be  stable 
only  when  it  rests  upon  an  appreciative  under- 
standing of  other  nations.  In  this  there  is  a 
great  work  for  education  the  world  over,  that 
it  may  help  the  nations  to  understand  one 
another.  Whatever  the  schools  may  do  to 
this  great  end  will  count  for  real  education. 
Can  any  form  of  learning,  in  fact,  be  more 
liberalizing,  more  expanding,  more  tonic,  than 
the  insight  gained  through  knowledge  of  other 
peoples,  our  contemporaries,  who  with  us  are 
the  makers  of  modern  history? 

"Already  a  considerable  movement  is  under 


to 

(U 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  485 

way  looking  to  the  annual  commemoration  in 
the  schools  of  the  United  States  of  the  opening 
of  the  first  Hague  Conference,  which  occurred 
on  the  18th  day  of  May,  1899.  Such  a  cele- 
bration seems  eminently  desirable,  by  way  of 
laying  due  emphasis  in  the  schools  upon  the 
vital  relations  of  modern  peoples  one  to 
another." 

Resolutions  passed  at  the  International 
Congress  at  Liege,  Belgium,  in  1905,  in  answer 
to  the  question,  "What  can  the  schools  con- 
tribute to  the  spread  of  the  peace  idea.^"  con- 
tain these  words: 

"Instruction  in  history  should  be  of  a  kind 
to  show  the  great  law  of  solidarity  which  unites 
all  men,  all  the  intellectual  and  spiritual 
workers  of  the  past.  Through  geographical 
instruction  it  should  be  shown  how  the  living 
generation  works  in  the  same  way,  how  the 
lines  of  trade  and  communication  are  estab- 
lished and  multiplied,  how  the  exchange  of  the 
products  of  all  lands  secures  a  common  life  on  a 
broader  and  more  comfortable  basis." 

Although  we  have  an  army  of  war,  yet  for  a 
great  part  of  the  time  this  mighty  organiza- 
tion is  doing  the  work  of  an  army  of  peace. 


486       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Its  work  of  reconstruction,  of  education,  of  re- 
habilitation, of  sanitation  in  the  PhiHppines,* 
in  Cuba,  Porto  Rico  and  Guam,  are  but  ex- 
amples of  the  great  work  which  might  be  done 
in  every  land,  if  the  organized  destructive 
forces  were  made  constructive,  humanizing 
and  civihzing.  This  is  the  contention  of  this 
chapter,  that  as  war  shall  cease,  the  organized 

*  (FROM  REPORT  OF  SECRETARY  OF  WAR,  TAFT,  1908. ) 
"Mr.  Bumham,  the  well-known  landscape  architect  of  Chicago, 
BOme  years  ago,  without  compensation,  visited  the  Philippines 
and  mapped  out  a  plan  for  the  improvement  of  the  city,  and  laid 
out  a  plan  of  construction  for  Baguio  in  Benguet  as  the  summer 
capital  and  health  resort.  To  both  of  these  plans,  all  improve- 
ments which  have  been  attempted  in  the  city  have  conformed, 
and  if  the  present  eflficient  city  government  continues,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  Manila  will  become  a  most  attractive 
city.  A  contract  has  been  made  for  the  leasing  of  ground  im- 
mediately upon  the  Luneta  and  facing  the  bay,  to  a  firm  of 
capitalists  for  the  construction  of  a  hotel  to  cost  500,000  pesos. 
It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  this  capital  can  be  raised  at  the 
present  time,  and  if  it  falls  through  it  is  proposed,  and  I  think 
with  wisdom  proposed,  that  the  government  shall  erect  a  hotel  as 
a  public  investment  for  the  development  of  the  city  and  the  is- 
lands, and  lease  it  to  the  best  bidder. 

There  is  no  city  in  the  world  better  governed  than  Manila. 
The  streets  are  well  cleaned,  are  well  policed,  there  is  a  most 
excellent  fire  department.  The  parks  are  being  enlarged  and  im- 
proved, the  street  car  system  is  as  good  as  ansrwhere,  and  with 
the  improvements  in  the  water  supply,  the  sewerage  system  and 
esteros  or  canals,  which  are  now  under  foot  and  part  of  which  are 
nearly  accomplished,  the  face  which  the  Filipinos  turn  toward 
the  world  in  the  city  of  Manila  will  be  a  most  pleasing  one." 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  487 

forces  will  still  continue,  but  will  do  the  great 
things  needing  to  be  done  that  make  for  better 
living  and  for  the  establishment  of  righteous- 
ness and  justice  in  the  whole  world. 

No  experiment  has  ever  had  greater  success 
than  that  of  the  Iwahig  Penal  Colony  in  the 
Philippines.  This  was  founded  after  a  careful 
study  of  the  George  Junior  Republic.  The 
right  man  was  found  to  conduct  it,  and  prison- 
ers who  gave  hope  of  reformation  were  taken 
from  Bilibid  Prison  to  an  island,  at  that  time 
only  a  mangrove  swamp.  Here  freed  from 
the  restriction  of  prison  life,  these  Filipinos 
were  given  a  chance  to  become  men.  The 
following  description*  shows  what  can  be 
done  for  human  uplift  when  a  nation  or- 
ganizes to  do  good  even  to  the  weakest: 

"A  number  of  colonists  have  by  their  work 
and  good  conduct  earned  the  reward  of  a  small 
farm  with  a  small  house  and  the  privilege  of 
having   their   families   with   them.    A   pre- 

*The  number  of  prisoners  employed  in  the  different  divisions 
of  the  colony  on  June  30, 1908,  was  as  follows: 

Farming,  101;  Construction,  61;  Forestry,  68;  Roads,  30; 
Transportation,  29;  Serving,  49;  Executive,  16;  Health,  12; 
Out  Stations,  54;  Sick  in  hospital,  21;  Police,  20;  In  Puerto 
Princess,  5.    Total  strength  of  Colony,  466. 


488       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

scribed  allowance  of  food,  clothing,  and  money 
enables  them  to  live  until  their  farms  have 
become  suflSciently  productive  to  support 
themselves  and  their  families.  As  the  farms 
increase  in  productiveness  the  government 
support  is  gradually  withdrawn.  The  colony 
is  divided  up  into  hunters,  farmers,  lumber- 
men, road-builders,  cattle-raisers,  hog-raisers. 
There  is  a  police  force,  but  not  a  firearm  on  the 
reservation.  The  word 'prisoner'  or  *  convict' 
is  never  heard  or  used,  and  to  an  observer  it 
would  appear  that  these  men  were  cultivating 
a  big  hacienda.  The  faculties  necessary  for 
handling  these  men  are  honesty,  sincerity, 
patience,  firmness,  fearlessness,  and  a  fine 
sense  of  justice — about  the  same  qualities  that 
are  needed  for  the  handling  of  prisoners  of  any 
nationality.  The  essential  idea  of  the  colony 
is  that  of  enforced  industry  combined  with  the 
discipline  of  decreased  restraint  and  increased 
self-dependence.  The  result  is  that  prisoners 
cease  to  be  a  cost  to  the  government  and  be- 
come self-supporting.  Among  the  many  in- 
centives, in  addition  to  the  large  degree  of 
personal  liberty  allowed,  is  that  of  earning  a 
conditional  parole,  with  the  choice  of  return- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         489 

ing  to  their  homes  or  remaining  in  Iwahig  and 
becoming  farmers  of  colonies.  If  a  paroled 
man  remains  on  the  reservation,  he  will 
receive,  in  addition  to  his  accumulated  earn- 
ings, a  farm  and  house,  seeds,  advice,  and  all 
help  possible,  in  return  for  which  he  must 
obey  the  laws  of  the  colony  in  the  same  manner 
as  any  citizen  would  obey  the  laws  of  a  muni- 
cipality." 

While  the  army  has  been  successfully  work- 
ing out  experiments  in  the  tropics  the  work  of 
the  Engineers'  department  gives  the  best 
illustration  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by 
an  army  of  peace.  The  duties  devolving 
upon  the  oflScers  of  the  corps  of  engineers  have 
been  increasing  year  by  year,  and  are  now 
greater  than  ever  before  in  its  history.  These 
duties  at  present  include  the  construction  of 
fortifications,  superintendence  and  execution 
of  works  of  river  and  harbor  improvements, 
and  the  construction  and  repair  of  light- 
houses, both  in  the  United  States  and  in  the 
island  possessions;  the  water  supply,  municipal 
engineering,  care  of  public  buildings  and 
grounds,  and  a  share  in  the  government  of  the 
capital  city  of  the  United  States;  the  improve- 


400       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

ment  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park;  the 
survey  of  the  northern  and  northwestern 
lakes ;  the  mining  and  debris  commission  in  the 
State  of  California;  the  chairmanship  and 
majority  membership  of  the  Panama  Canal 
Commission  and  work  under  this  commission, 
all  of  which  involve  the  expenditure  of  many 
millions  annually. 

After  several  trials,  the  government  found  it 
necessary  to  give  the  direction  of  the  building^ 
of  the  Panama  Canal  into  the  hands  of  CoL 
Geo.   W.   Geothals,  an  army  engineer,  wh< 
could    not    resign  or  ask  leave  to  accept 
position  with  larger  pay.     With  the  disciplincj 
of  the  army,  the  work  of  building  the  Panamj 
Canal  is  being  hastened  to  a  completion  in 
1915,  while  with  the  zeal  of  the  surgeons  in  th< 
Japanese  War,  Col.  Gorgas  is  doing  a  work  ii 
prophylaxis    never  witnessed  in  the  tropics 
outside  of  this  zone. 

In  an  early  history  descriptive  of  the  work^ 
of  the  army  engineers,  we  find  the  following 
facts  concerning  the  usefulness  of  these  sol- 
diers of  peace. 

In  the  earliest  days  of  West  Point,  people 
hesitated  at  expenditures  for  purely  militai 


u 
-a 

cr 


4> 

c 

< 

5 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       491 

purposes,  and  proposed  to  employ  these 
officers  in  time  of  peace  in  various  useful 
undertakings.  President  Jefferson  who  was 
**no  great  lover  of  military  affairs,  but  a  warm 
friend  of  science,'*  signed  the  Act,  establishing 
the  military  academy,  contemplated  an  insti- 
tution which  would  supply  the  country  with 
engineers  for  civil  as  well  as  military  purposes, 
an  institution  which  would  serve  as  a  model 
for  training  in  the  practical  sciences. 

Because  West  Point  antedated  all  technical 
schools  by  twenty-three  years,  naturally  this 
school  furnished  teachers  for  other  schools, 
and  a  type  for  their  establishment.  The 
graduates  became  the  great  explorers  of  the 
country,  mapping  and  charting  the  rivers. 
The  officers  of  the  War  Department  from  the 
earliest  years  of  this  last  century,  from  the 
days  of  Pike  and  Long,  and  Lewis  and  Clarke, 
and  Bonneville,  have  borne  the  hardships  and 
exposures  of  the  preliminary  examinations  and 
surveys,  when  the  region  was  an  unknown 
wilderness,  and  have  gone  on  improving  their 
surveys  from  time  to  time  by  more  accurate 
methods  as  the  improvement  in  instruments 
or  their  transportation  has  increased. 


492       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  railroad  was  bom  in  England  in  1825. 
A  fever  for  railroads  immediately  attacked 
this  country,  but  at  that  time  there  were  no 
competent  men  with  experience  sufficient  to 
locate  and  construct  them.  There  were  a 
few  graduate  military  engineers,  whom  the 
government  with  liberal  policy  lent  to  the 
railroad  promoters  for  this  purpose.  The 
Baltimore  and  Ohio,  and  scores  of  other  roads 
were  thus  built. 

The  army  engineers  now  assigned  to  the 
rivers  and  harbors  are  doing  a  work  of  far- 
reaching  importance  to  the  nation.  The  need 
for  their  services  will  increase  as  the  govern- 
ment's plan  for  waterways  reaches  the  active 
stage.  The  work  of  U.  S.  Engineer,  Amos  A. 
Fries,  in  developing  the  great  harbor  at  Los 
Angeles  is  illustrative  of  the  far-reaching  work 
of  this  part  of  the  army.  In  addition  to  his 
noteworthy  success  in  the  building  of  this 
breakwater,  the  aid  which  he  rendered  the 
city  of  Los  Angeles  in  saving  the  harbor  for 
the  people  in  their  contest  with  the  great  cor- 
porations will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  success  of  all  measures 
for  the  common  good. 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       493 

War  may  cease,  but  will  we  not  always  need 
trained  engineers  with  an  army  behind  them 
to  dig  the  waterways  and  harbors,  drain  the 
swamps,  build  the  railroads  and  reclaim  the 
arid  lands?  An  organized  army,  working  six 
hours  a  day,  with  special  drill  would  not  only 
do  the  work,  but  would  be  in  the  best  of 
training  if  defense  was  necessary.  When  the 
Panama  Canal  is  finished,  the  plant  and  organ- 
ization ought  to  be  put  to  use  in  digging  and 
dredging  the  great  canals  and  deep  waterways, 
giving  interior  states  harbors  for  ocean-going 
ships. 

Under  a  magazine  picture  showing  the 
landscape  about  Mukden  furrowed  by  the 
plowshares  of  war,  occur  these  words:  "The 
amount  of  work  devoted  to  the  altering  of 
nature  for  the  purposes  of  war  would  build 
an  irrigation  system  that  would  make  a  vast 
arid  region  fertile,  construct  a  line  of  railroads 
or  create  a  great  commercial  harbor." 

This  nation  has  an  army  prepared  for  war, 
but  enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  it  is 
slowly  being  transformed  into  an  army  of 
peace,  and  that  new  ideals  of  patriotism  and 
service  to  one's  country  are  taking  the  place 


404         THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

of  the  older  thought  that  the  highest  service 
was  to  die  for  one's  nation,  while  fighting  at 
the  front  where  the  battle  raged  the  fiercest. 
It  may  be  ours  to  have  the  vision  of  Ossian, 
when  he  sang  of  that  time  to  come,  when 
"The  battle  ceased  along  the  plains,  for  the 
bards  had  sung  the  songs  of  peace." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

More  Democracy 

Democracy  is  not  a  new  idea  born  of  the 
twentieth  century.  The  rule  of  the  people 
existed  away  back  in  the  days  of  ancient 
Greece,  in  which  land  the  word  democracy 
itself  was  coined.  "Demos'*  was  then  a  term 
of  greater  import  than  king  or  lord ;  but  to  the 
Grecians  "the  people"  did  not  mean  all  the 
people,  for  the  slaves  were  many,  the  captives 
of  many  wars,  ofttimes  educated  and  refined, 
yet  without  voice  or  vote. 

The  end  of  the  struggle  of  the  centuries  has 
been  not  only  that  the  people  might  rule  in 
place  of  king  or  aristocrat,  but  that  all  the 
people, — freed  from  bondage,  educated  and 
lifted  out  of  dire  poverty,  might  be  fitted  for 
the  noble  duties  of  citizenship.  If  demo- 
cracy means  the  rule  of  the  people,  the  rule  of 
all  the  people,  then  the  weaker  must  be  aided 
and  educated  by  the  stronger,  until  every 
vote  shall  be  an  honest  and  intelligent  vote. 


496       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

Such  a  hope  may  seem  Utopian  in  an  age  of 
greed  and  graft,  yet  it  has  never  died  out  in 
the  human  heart  but  has  rather  grown  stronger 
as  the  centuries  have  slipped  by  with  their 
ever-increasing  Hght  and  Hberty. 

Perhaps  it  is  only  natural  that  the  strong 
should  seek  to  rule  the  weak,  and  history  re- 
cords it  as  a  fact  in  every  land.  Sometimes 
it  is  the  rule  of  royalty,  sometimes  the  rule  of 
bureaucrats,  sometimes  that  of  industrial 
lords,  but  whatever  form  it  assumes,  it  always 
results  in  the  exploitation  of  the  weak  by 
those  who  have  grown  strong  at  their  ex- 
pense. Read  the  story  of  the  early  struggles 
for  life  and  liberty,  and  you  will  find  that  the 
objects  sought  for  are  in  substance  the  same 
as  the  demands  of  today,  although  the  names 
may  be  changed. 

The  Republics  of  Greece  became  the  teachers 
of  the  world  in  democratic  ideas,  although 
they  could  not  rise  entirely  above  the  belief 
that  a  poor  man  was  unfitted  for  citizenship. 
Among  the  German  tribes,  all  freeman  were 
citizens  in  a  democratic  society,  but  gradually 
as  feudalism  grew  in  power,  the  majority  of  the 
freeborn  people  became  subject  to  the  nobles, 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       497 

and  were  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
serfs  of  the  land.  The  nobility  branded  these 
masses  as  "the  common  people,"  "the  canaille^'' 
who  were  once  known  as  "the  people,"  free 
citizens  of  a  free  republic.  Those  who  ruled 
were  either  warriors  or  possessors  of  land 
granted  for  valor  in  war.  Dark  ages  followed 
one  another  in  which  the  cause  of  rule  of  the 
people  was  eclipsed,  but  the  rise  of  the  city 
and  the  beginnings  of  industrialism  brought 
a  change.  Leaders  in  commerce  demanded 
their  rights  and  received  them ;  then  the  trades 
or  guilds  asserted  their  claims  for  recognition, 
and  after  many  bloody  contests  were  victori- 
ous. The  agriculturalists  were  less  able  to 
gain  recognition,  and  were  held  in  serfdom  long 
years  after  their  brothers  in  the  cities  were 
made  freemen.  Although  the  democratic  prin- 
ciple was  gaining  recognition  through  a  larger 
number  being  included  in  the  ruling  body,  yet 
the  great  mass  outside  were  still  looked  down 
upon  as  the  common  herd.  The  French 
Revolution  wrought  a  change  throughout 
Europe,  and  "Liberty,  fraternity  and  equality" 
became  the  rallying  cry  in  every  land,  and  the 
people  began  to  claim  rights  as  against  the 
aristocracy. 


498       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  settlement  of  America  seemed  to  furnish 
the  place  for  the  final  working  out  of  the  ideals 
of  democracy;  here  was  to  be  witnessed  the 
rise  of  the  common  people;  the  uplift  of  the 
average  of  humanity  was  now  to  be  made 
possible;  for  aristocracy,  that  foe  to  the  com- 
mon good,  was  to  be  left  behind,  and  the  desire 
for  civil  liberty  was  to  be  strengthened  by  the 
passion  for  religious  liberty. 

The  Pilgrim  Fathers  sought  to  create  a  state 
of  society  where  equality  in  all  things  might 
become  permanent.  Later  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  embodied  the  best  thought  of 
the  worid  in  the  statement  of  the  belief  in 
human  equality,  and  here  and  now  democracy 
was  seen  to  have  a  free  field  to  work  out  the 
salvation  of  the  people,  both  from  the  evils 
of  monarchy  and  aristocracy.  The  Fathers 
planned  and  labored  well,  and  civil  and  religi- 
ous liberty  seemed  assured  in  America — the 
land  of  the  free.  Political  democracy,  al 
though  not  absolute,  but  only  representative 
might  here  have  become  a  greater  success  had 
not  the  growth  of  modern  industrialism,  at 
first  with  its  intense  individualism,  and  then 
with  its  mighty  combinations,  wrought  havoc 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       49d 

with  the  earlier  ideals  of  liberty  and  equality. 
A  new  feudalism  of  capital  was  established, 
and  the  lords  of  the  money  power  looked  upon 
the  masses  as  did  the  feudal  lords  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  called  them  "the  people." 
The  Fathers  were  not  willing  to  trust  the  people 
with  the  rights  of  a  true  democracy,  as  was 
done  in  lands  where  all  the  people  ruled  di- 
rectly, as  in  Switzerland,  or  ancient  Athens, 
and  so  they  established  the  device  of  rep- 
resentative democracy,  according  to  which  the 
representatives  spoke  and  acted  for  the  people 
who  chose  them.  Because  of  this  method, 
the  lords  of  misrule  have  been  able,  by  the  use 
of  gold,  too  often  to  win  the  support  of  those 
whom  the  people  trusted.  Within  the  last 
quarter  century,  there  has  been  formed  within 
this  nation  an  aristocracy  of  wealth  even  more 
baneful  than  the  old  world  aristocracy  of 
birth.  Power  has  become  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  the  few,  and  they  have  used  this 
power  of  the  dollar  to  nullify  laws,  defeat 
justice,  defy  the  government,  and  corrupt  the 
ballot-box.  What  matters  it  if  there  is  less  of 
wretched  poverty  in  this  favored  land  than  in 
other  lands,  if  political  and  industrial  democ- 


500       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 


racy  are  in  danger  of  being  overthrown! 
What  profits  it  if  in  the  place  of  the  rule  of  the 
people,  privileged  wealth  is  to  sit  in  the  seat 
of  government,  and  through  protected  in- 
terests, under  the  lead  of  corrupt  bosses,  and 
upheld  by  a  venal  press,  make  the  laws  for  a 
nation  in  bondage!  History  is  at  last  repeat- 
ing itself,  and  the  people  deprived  of  their 
rights  are  again  demanding  that  their  name 
shall  be  written  large;  and  that  power,  once 
wrested  from  them  shall  be  restored  to  their 
hands. 

Notwithstanding    the    existence    of    social 
immorality,  dishonesty,  graft,  and  exploita- 
tions of  various  kinds,  because  of  the  recup- 
erative power  of  democracy,  the  people  once 
awakened  are  sure  to  win,  for  "though  theyj 
may  blunder  on  the  way,  they  are  ultimately 
right."    The   spoiling   of  the   weak  by  the] 
strong  cannot  long  continue  in  a  democratic! 
nation,   when  the  people  speak.     With  Del 
Tocqueville,  we  hold  that  "the  cure  of  th< 
evils    of    democracy    is    more    democracy.' 
Trust  the  people,  give  them  greater  power  to 
rule.     If  a  representative  government  is  nec- 
essary, then  make  the  representatives  more 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY         501 

intimately  responsible  to  their  constituents, 
and  closer  to  the  electors,  that  the  power  of 
sympathetic  public  opinion  may  influence 
their  every  action. 

The  past  decade  has  witnessed  an  agitation 
as  active  in  its  propaganda  against  the  evils 
of  modern  industrialism  and  its  allied  misrule 
as  was  that  against  monarchy  and  its  evils 
before  the  French  Revolution.  And  just  as 
sure  as  that  agitation  resulted  in  the  overthrow 
of  the  old,  so  will  the  social  unrest  of  this  day 
result  in  a  revolution,  peaceful  yet  mighty, 
which  will  lead  to  the  overthrow  of  injustice, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  rights  of  the 
people.  There  is  on  every  hand  a  revival 
of  public  spirit  on  the  part  of  those  who  had 
lost  hope  and  who  had  neglected  the  ballot- 
box;  and  because  the  people  are  aroused, 
success  is  assured. 

For  the  past  ten  years  a  moral  wave  has 
been  sweeping  over  the  land.  The  people 
are  growing  in  a  sense  of  spiritual  values, 
and  the  purely  material  conception  of  life 
is  losing  its  hold.  Men  everywhere  are  being 
moved  by  a  **religion  of  democratic  aspira- 
tion."   This  religion  of  patriotism  is  calling 


502 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 


its  followers  to  live  for  their  country,  to  work 
not  in  the  spirit  of  blind  revenge  against  the 
over-lords  of  society,  but  through  the  educa- 
tion of  the  consciences  of  the  people,  seeking, 
not  for  spasmodic  reform,  but  for  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  our  governmental  system  on 
strong,  permanent,  democratic  foundations. 
First  agitate,  then  educate,  then  inspire,  is 
a  method  which  will  always  bring  good  results. 
Along  with  the  moral  awakening  of  the  people 
comes  the  turning  of  the  light  on  existing 
conditions.  Perhaps  no  stronger  arraignment 
of  the  evils  of  the  present  political  situation 
has  ever  been  given,  than  that  contained  in 
an  analysis  of  the  new  tariff  law,  in  the  Outlook 
for  August  14th,  1909,  part  of  which  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

**Special  interests  control  both  the  House 
and  the  Senate.  Some  interests  have  a  greater 
control  in  one  body,  some  in  the  other. 
Only  a  comparatively  small  body  of  statesman 
in  either  branch  of  Congress  are  controlled 
by  the  consideration  of  what  is  demanded  by- 
the  general  interest  of  the  nation.  This  is 
natural,  perhaps  unavoidable,  since  the  repre- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  503 

sentative  is  elected  to  represent  his  district 
and  the  senator  his  state.  Neither  is  elected 
to  represent  the  nation,  and,  with  some  shining 
exceptions,  neither  representatives  nor  senators 
know  much  about  national  desires  and  nat- 
ional opinion.  The  President  is  the  only  per- 
son concerned  in  this  legislation  who  has  been 
elected  by  the  nation,  and  to  whom  the  in- 
terests of  all  sections  and  states  send  their 
complaints  and  requests.  In  Congress  the 
representatives  are  elected  by  the  people, 
and  are  therefore  more  responsive  to  the  pop- 
ular will;  the  senators,  in  some  cases  practi- 
cally elected  by  the  special  interests,  are  more 
responsive  to  those  interests  than  to  public 
opinion." 

Such  conditions  demand  a  change.  The 
optimist  says  that  relief  is  near  at  hand,  and 
who  could  be  else  than  an  optimist,  as  he 
stands  in  the  presence  of  an  aroused  citizen- 
ship ?  Here  are  some  of  the  methods  by  which 
special  privileges  are  to  be  overthrown  and 
equal  rights  for  all  established  in  government 
and  industry.  The  direct  primary;  direct 
legislation  through  the  initiative  and  referen- 


504  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

dum;  the  recall;  choosing  the  senators  by 
the  people;  non-partisan  city  government; 
new  city  charters — these  are  among  the  dem- 
ocratic devices  which  are  putting  the  power  to 
rule  back  again  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 
And  surely  this  is  the  way  to  create  **the  right 
environment  for  freedom  and  democracy." 

Direct  legislation  is  the  latest  American 
approach   to   the   communal   voting   of   th( 
Greek  republics,  the  Swiss  cantons,  and  th( 
New  England  town  meeting.    The  immensi 
stretch  of  country,  and  the  density  of  popula- 
tion, will  probably  make  absolute  democracy 
an  impossibility  in  this  land,  yet  the  device  of 
direct  legislation  will  put  the  power  of  control 
where  it  rightly  belongs,  as  it  is  expressed  ii 
the  definition,   "The  initiative  enables  the 
people  to  enact,  by  direct  popular  vote,  d( 
sirable    measures,    ignored,    pigeonholed,    oi 
defeated  by  their  representatives.    The  refer- 
endum is  the  power  of  veto,  by  direct  populai 
vote,  of  acts  of  the  representatives." 

The  control  thus  put  into  the  hands  of  tb 
people  in  questions  of  legislation  is  duplicate( 
in  the  recall,  in  the  control  over  the  men  elect< 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY  505 

to  oflSce.  The  founders  of  the  nation  intro- 
duced the  recall  in  the  articles  of  confedera- 
tion.* By  means  of  the  recall,  bad  men  or 
incompetent  can  be  replaced  by  efficient  men 
who  truly  represent  the  people.  By  means  of 
all  of  these  measures,  "It  is  proposed  to  shift 
from  the  representatives  the  excess  of  power 
which  is  engulfing  them  to  the  body  of  voters 
who  have  not  enough  power  to  enable  them 
to  retain  their  self-respect,  to  say  nothing  of 
securing  life,  liberty  and  happiness.  This 
may  well  prove  to  be  the  salvation  of  represen- 
tative government  and  hence  of  popular 
government." 

That  the  fathers  of  this  nation  foresaw  the 
possible  need  for  such  legislation  is  illustrated 
by  the  following  quotation  from  the  Bill  of 
Rights  in  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts. 

"Article  V.  All  power  residing  originally  in 
the  people,  and  being  derived  from  them,  the 

*ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION. 
Article  V.  "For  the  more  convenient  management  of  the 
general  interests  of  the  United  States,  delegates  shall  be  annually 
appointed  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  of  each  state  shall 
direct,  to  meet  in  Congress  on  the  first  Monday  in  November  in 
every  year,  with  a  power  reserved  to  each  state  to  recall  its  dele- 
gates, or  any  of  them,  at  any  time,  for  the  remainder  of  the 
year." 


506  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

several  magistrates  and  officers  of  government, 
vested  with  authority,  whether  legislative, 
executive,  or  judicial,  are  their  substitutes 
and  agents,  and  are  at  all  times  accountable  to 
them. 

"Art.  VI.  Government  is  instituted  for 
the  common  good;  for  the  protection,  safety, 
prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  people;  and 
not  for  the  profit,  honor,  or  private  interest 
of  any  one  man,  family,  or  class  of  men:  there- 
fore the  people  have  an  incontestable,  una- 
lienable, and  indefeasible  right  to  institute 
government;  and  to  reform,  alter,  or  totally 
change  the  same,  when  their  protection,  safety, 
prosperity,  and  happiness  require  it. 

"Art.  VII.  In  order  to  prevent  those  who 
are  vested  with  authority  from  becoming 
oppressors,  the  people  have  a  right,  at  such 
periods  and  in  such  manner  as  they  shall 
establish  by  their  form  of  government,  to 
cause  their  public  officers  to  return  to  private 
life;  and  to  fill  up  vacant  places  by  certain 
and  regular  elections  and  appointments." 

As  a  way  out  from  some  of  the  intolerable 
evils  of  our  present  system,  two  further  sug- 
gestions have  been  made;  namely,  a  heavily 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       507 

graded  progressive  inheritance  tax,  bearing 
heaviest  on  absentees,  is  the  recommendation 
of  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  one  which  many 
states  have  adopted;  also  President  Taft's 
proposed  amendment  to  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution on  which  the  states  are  asked  to  vote, 
reading  as  follows:  "The  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  lay  and  collect  direct  taxes  on  incomes 
without  apportionment  among  the  several 
states  according  to  population. '* 

Great  Britian  is  moving  along  similar  lines 
toward  a  greater  democracy.  British  inheri- 
tance taxes,  drawn  from  a  population  of 
44,000,000  yield  $90,000,000  to  $95,000,000 
annually,  out  of  a  total  internal  revenue  of 
$470,000,000  to  $480,000,000,  thus  lifting  some 
of  the  burden  of  taxation  from  the  common 
people.  A  revolutionary  change  has  come 
over  the  spirit  of  the  British  politics,  according 
to  the  Hon.  J.  Kerr  Hardie,  M.P.,  who  says, 
"Not  only  is  laissez  faire  dead  and  forgotten, 
but  out  of  its  ashes  has  arisen  an  entirely  new 
creation.  The  old  theory  that  the  state  was 
an  unclean  thing  to  be  kept  as  far  away  as 
possible  from  the  lives  of  the  people  has  given 
place  to  a  new  concept  in  which  the  aid  of  the 


508  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

state  is  being  invoked  for  purposes  which 
would  have  made  the  blood  of  the  men  run 
cold  who  were  at  the  helm  fifty  years  ago. 
Four  years  ago  whilst  it  was  known  that  there 
were  tens  of  thousands  of  destitute  hungry 
children  attending  school,  nearly  a  million  old 
persons  without  any  means  of  support,  and 
whilst  also  unemployment  from  time  to  time 
played  sad  havoc  with  the  comfort  of  great 
multitudes  of  working  people  and  reduced 
them  to  a  state  of  actual  hunger,  there  was  no 
state  machinery  for  dealing  with  these.  Now, 
however,  educational  authorities  may  provide 
out  of  public  funds  food  for  school  children; 
persons  of  both  sexes  over  seventy  years  of 
age  receive  an  old  age  pension  provided  from 
the  national  exchequer;  and  the  state  recog- 
nizes its  liability,  financial  and  other,  to  make 
provision  for  the  people  out  of  work.  The 
House  of  Commons  has  also  carried  through 
all  its  stages  a  bill  for  regulating  the  hours  of 
labor  in  mines  to  eight  per  day,  and  has  also 
carried  a  workmen's  compensation  law  which 
includes  every  class  of  worker,  even  casual 
laborers  and  domestic  servants."  More  re- 
cent legislation  points  to  the  acceptance  of  far 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY      509 

more  revolutionary  measures  in  the  interests 
of  the  common  people,  as  over  against  that  of 
the  lords  and  their  vested  rights. 

"It  is  evident  in  every  land  that  for  the 
future,  democracy  is  not  merely  to  be  a  scheme 
of  governmental  administration,  but  an  ethical 
system  applying  to  all  departments  of  life. 
It  involves  a  larger  degree  of  public  service, 
designed  to  meet  new  and  pressing  common 
needs.  It  holds  to  the  principle  of  equal 
opportunity  to  all  for  the  proper  development 
of  the  physical  and  spiritual  powers.  It  is 
moving  toward  a  more  highly  organized  and 
more  productive  type  of  industry. 

Writers  and  speakers  there  are  without 
number  who  not  only  believe  but  express 
their  beliefs  in  strong  words  like  these:  '*Co- 
operation  through  the  agency  of  great  corpo- 
rations has  done  much  for  modern  develop- 
ment. This  form  of  industrial  co-operation 
will  be  supplemented  by  certain  forms  of 
co-operation  through  government.  The  col- 
lectivism of  the  corporation  will  not  be  done 
away  with,  but  it  will  not  monopolize  the 
field  of  effort.  Collectivism  through  govern- 
ment will  have  its  part  to  play.     We  are  on 


610       THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 


the  eve  of  great  movements  intended  for  the 
advancement  of  man.  The  public  service 
will  constantly  improve,  the  public  servant 
will  advance  in  efficiency,  in  disinterested- 
ness, and  in  patriotic  integrity.  The  gov- 
ernment will  not  simply  be  a  machine  to  rule 
but  it  will  be  a  machine  to  administer,  and 
the  constantly  increasing  intelligence  of  the 
voters  of  the  country  will  see  to  it  that  such 
administration  of  government  by  all  the| 
people  will  be  for  the  best  interests  of  allj 
the  people." 

Let  us  read  carefully  the  words  of  that  man] 
of  the  people,  Gifford  Pinchot — a  follower  of 
Roosevelt,  of  whom  it  has  been  said  that  he| 
found  the  American   people  in  thought,  inj 
conduct,  and    in   aspirations,  veering  away 
from  the  good  old  standards,  and  he  called 
them  back.     Gifford  Pinchot,    in  a  speech 
before  the  Irrigation  Congress  at  Spokane, 
said:    *'We  are  coming  to  see  that  the  plain' 
American  citizen  is  the  man  to  work  for.  The  I 
imagination  is  staggered  by  the  magnitude 
of  the  price  for  which  we  work.  If  we  succeed 
there  will  exist  upon  this  continent   a  sane, 
strong  people  living  through  the  centuries  in  a] 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY        511 

land  subdued  and  controlled  for  the  service  of 
the  people,  its  rightful  masters,  owned  by  the 
many  and  not  by  the  few.  If  we  fail,  the  great 
interests,  increasing  their  control  of  our  natu- 
ral resources,  will  thereby  control  the  country 
more  and  more,  and  the  rights  of  the  people 
will  fade  into  the  privileges  of  concentrated 
wealth.  The  man  who  really  counts  is  the 
plain  American  citizen.  This  is  the  man  for 
whom  the  Roosevelt  policies  were  created,  and 
his  welfare  is  the  end  to  which  the  Roosevelt 
policies  lead. 

**I  stand  for  the  Roosevelt  policies  because 
they  set  the  common  good  of  all  of  us  above 
the  private  gain  of  some  of  us,  because  they 
recognize  the  livelihood  of  the  small  man  as 
more  important  to  the  nation  than  the  profit 
of  the  big  man ;  because  they  oppose  all  useless 
waste  at  present  at  the  cost  of  robbing  the 
future;  because  they  demand  the  complete, 
sane,  and  orderly  development  of  all  our  natu- 
ral resources,  not  forgetting  our  rivers;  because 
they  insist  upon  equality  of  opportunity  and 
denounce  monopoly  and  special  privilege;  be- 
cause discarding  false  issues,  they  deal  directly 
with  the  vital  questions  that  really  make  a 


512        THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

diflFerence  with  the  welfare  of  us  all —  the  most 
of  all,  because  in  them  the  plain  American 
always  and  everywhere  holds  the  first  place. 
And  I  propose  to  stand  for  them  while  I  have 
the  strength  to  stand  for  anything." 

Much  remains  to  be  done,  but  here  again 
will  agitation,  education  and  inspiration  aid 
the  people  in  coming  to  their  own.  In- 
spirational leaders  there  are,  counted  now  by 
the  hundreds;  of  constructive  leaders,  too, 
there  are  many,  who  are  organizing,  directing, 
and  training  the  people.  There  are  also  in- 
surgents in  Congress  who  will  not  yield  to  the 
party-whip,  and  they  are  increasing  in  number 
every  year.  Of  educators  in  the  school  of 
citizenship  there  is  a  large  host,  who  are  train- 
ing the  youth  and  the  foreigner  in  the  higher 
ideals  of  democracy.  The  People's  Lobby  in 
many  legislatures  has  come  to  stay,  a  sleepless 
guard  in  the  interest  of  the  many. 

As  we  draw  near  to  the  democratic  ideal,  we 
find  that  although  this  is  a  representative 
government,  we,  the  people,  can  educate  our 
congressmen,  and  make  it  possible  for  them  to 
serve  the  people  more  wisely  and  eflBciently. 
If  the  humblest  citizen  will  write  his  repre- 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       513 

sentative  at  Washington,  expressing  his  views 
on  all  important  questions,  and  do  this  before 
pledges  have  been  made,  and  lines  closely 
drawn,  but  only,  of  course,  after  the  writer 
has  given  the  subject  the  most  careful  thought 
and  study,  the  result  of  such  correspondence 
in  the  education  of  the  law-maker  cannot  fail 
to  be  beneficial.*  He  will  realize  that  he  is 
elected,  not  for  the  spoils  of  oflSce,  not  to  use 
his  position  as  a  means  for  graft,  but  rather  to 
represent  the  best  thought  of  his  constituents 
on  all  subjects  affecting  the  common  good. 
When  the  people  do  their  part,  there  will  be 
less  reason  for  demanding  the  referendum  or 
instituting  the  recall. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  use  dark  colors  in 
painting  the  picture  of  present  conditions,  but 
the  black  cloud  may  make  the  silver  lining  more 
striking,  and  the  sunburst  seem  more  glorious. 

*  Write  to  your  Congressman. 

The  Outlook  urgently  recommends  to  its  readers,  in  all  parta 
of  the  country,  to  watch  for  the  President's  message,  and  when  it 
appears,  to  write  to  their  respective  Senators  and  Representatives 
urging  upon  them  co-operation  in  securing  the  necessary  legisla- 
tion. The  special  interests  will  be  busy  urgmf^  their  private  clainiB 
on  Congress.  The  public  must  also  be  busy  m  urgmg  the  public 
claims  on  Congress.  Remember  also  that  private  personal  let- 
ters are  worth  immeasurably  more  than  general  petitions  or 
signatures  attached  to  printed  or  typwritten  copies  of  the 
same  letter. 

OuOook,  Nov.  27,  1909 


514  THE  BETTER  COUNTRY 

The  evils  of  democracy  are  disappearing  as 
the  people  call  for  more  democracy.  De- 
structive competition  is  giving  way  to  co- 
operation. Collectivism  through  trusts  and 
corporations  is  being  merged  into  collectivism 
through  government.  The  people  are  aroused, 
politics  are  being  purified,  honest,  eflBcient 
men  are  everywhere  being  placed  in  office  by 
determined  electors.  The  good  of  the  many 
and  not  the  enrichment  of  the  few  is  the  new 
ideal.  A  venal  press  is  being  replaced  by 
journals  of  highest  purpose,  whose  editors  can- 
not be  bought  nor  bribed  by  big  business 
interests,  or  by  the  poHtical  machine.  De- 
mocracy— the  rule  of  the  people — in  state  and 
in  industry,  is  emerging  from  the  realm  of 
theory  and  is  entering  the  realm  of  the  actual. 
Conscience,  courage,  and  co-operation  will 
bring  the  realization  of  the  ideal. 

This  volume  is  but  **a  book  of  beginnings," 
yet  all  who  have  ever  traced  world  movements 
from  small  beginnings  to  successful  termina- 
tions will  be  able  to  foresee  the  future  scope  of 
national  activities,  even  though  but  suggested 
by  what  has  already  been  undertaken. 

Optimists,  we  must  be,  when  we  consider 


THE  BETTER  COUNTRY       515 

that  our  government  is  in  social  service;  and 
that  this  nation  as  a  nation  is  at  work  in 
human  uplift. 

With  so  much  evidence  of  the  coming  of  a 
new  day,  hope  cannot  die,  and  all  citizens  ought 
surely  to  take  courage  and  act  as  men,  at  a 
time  when  it  means  more  to  live  for  one's 
country  than  to  die  for  it. 

(The  End.) 


APPENDIX  I 

FAMOUS    ACT    THAT    AUTHORIZES    RECLAMATION 
WORK 

An  act  appropriating  the  receipts  from  the  sale  and  disposal 
of  public  lands  in  certain  states  and  territories  to  the  construc- 
tion of  irrigation  works  for  the  reclamation  of  arid  lands. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled.  That  all  moneys 
received  from  the  sale  and  disposal  of  public  lands  in  Arizona, 
Calif ornia,Colorado,  Idaho,  Kansas,  Montana,  Nebraska,  Nevada, 
New  Mexico,  North  Dakota,  Oklahoma,  Oregon,  South  Dakota, 
Utah,  Washington,  and  Wyoming,  beginning  with  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1901,  including  the  surplus  of  fees  and  commis- 
sions in  excess  of  allowances  to  registers  and  receivers,  and  except- 
ing the  5  per  centum  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands 
in  the  above  states  set  aside  by  law  for  educational  and  other 
purposes,  shall  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  reserved,  set  aside 
and  appropriated  as  a  special  fund  in  the  Treasury  to  be  known 
as  the  "Reclamation  Fund,"  to  be  used  in  the  examination  and 
survey  for  and  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  irrigation 
works  for  the  storage,  diversion  and  development  of  waters  for 
the  reclamation  of  arid  and  semi-arid  lands  in  the  said  states  and 
territories,  and  for  the  payment  of  all  other  expenditures  provided 
for  in  this  act.  Provided,  That  in  case  the  receipts  from  the  sale 
and  disposal  of  lands  referred  to  in  this  section  are  insufficient 
to  meet  the  requirements  for  the  support  of  agricultural  colleges 
in  the  several  states  and  territories,  under  the  act  of  August  30, 
1890,  entitled  "An  act  to  apply  a  portion  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands  to  the  more  complete  endowment  and  support  of  the 
colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts, 
established  under  the  provisions  of  an  act  of  Congress  approved 
July  2,  1862,"  the  deficiency,  if  any,  in  the  sum  necessary  for  the 
support  of  the  said  colleges  shall  be  provided  for  from  moneys 
in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

Section  2.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  hereby  au- 
thorized and  directed  to  make  examinations  and  surveys  for,  and 
to  locate  and  construct,  as  herein  provided,  irrigation  works  for 
the  storage,  diversion  and  development  of    waters,  including 


518  APPENDIX 


artesian  wells,  and  to  report  to  Congress  at  the  beginning  of  each 
regular  session  as  to  the  results  of  such  examinations  and  surveys, 
giving  estimates  of  cost  of  all  contemplated  works,  the  quantity 
and  location  of  the  lands  which  can  be  irrigated  therefrom,  and 
all  facts  relative  to  the  practicability  of  each  irrigation  project; 
also  the  cost  of  works  in  process  of  construction  as  well  as  of  those 
which  have  been  completed. 

Section  3.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  shall,  before 
^ving  the  public  notice  provided  for  in  section  four  of  this  act, 
withdraw  from  pubUc  entry  the  lands  required  for  any  irrigation 
works  contemplated  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  shall 
restore  to  public  entry  any  of  the  lands  so  withdrawn  when,  in  hia 
judgment,  such  lands  are  not  required  for  the  purposes  of  this 
act;  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  hereby  authorized,  at  or 
immediately  prior  to  the  time  of  beginning  the  surveys  for  any 
contemplated  irrigation  works,  to  withdraw  from  entry,  except 
under  the  homestead  laws,  any  pubUc  lands  believed  to  be  sus- 
ceptible of  irrigation  from  said  works.  Provided,  That  all  lands 
entered  and  entries  made  under  the  homestead  laws  within  areas 
so  withdrawn  during  such  withdrawal  shall  be  subject  to  all  the 
provisions,  Umitations,  charges,  terms,  and  conditions  of  this  act : 
that  said  surveys  shall  be  prosecuted  diUgently  to  completion,  and 
upon  the  completion  thereof,  and  of  the  necessary  maps,  plans 
and  estimates  of  cost,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  shall  determine 
whether  or  not  said  project  is  practicable  and  advisable,  and  if 
determined  to  be  impracticable  or  unadvisable  he  shall  thereupon 
restore  said  lands  to  entry;  that  public  lands  which  it  is  proposed 
to  irrigate  by  means  of  any  contemplated  works  shall  be  subject 
to  entry  only  under  the  provisions  of  the  homestead  laws  in  tracts 
of  not  less  than  forty  nor  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
and  shall  be  subject  to  the  limitations,  charges,  terms  and  condi- 
tions herein  provided.  Provided,  That  the  commutation  provi- 
sions of  the  homestead  laws  shall  not  apply  to  entries  made  under 
this  act. 

Section  4.  That  upon  the  determination  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  that  any  irrigation  project  is  practicable,  he  may 
cause  to  be  let  contracts  for  the  construction  of  the  same,  in  such 
portions  or  sections  as  it  may  be  practicable  to  construct  and  com- 
plete as  parts  of  the  whole  project,  providing  the  necessary  funds 
for  such  portions  or  sections  are  available  in  the  Reclamation 
Fund,  and  thereupon  he  shall  give  public  notice  of  the  lands  irri- 
gable under  such  project,  and  limit  of  area  per  entry,  which  Umit 
shall  represent  the  acreage  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary, 
may  be  reasonably  required  for  the  support  of  a  family  upon  the 


APPENDIX  519 

lands  in  question ;  also  of  the  charges  which  shall  be  made  per  acre 
upon  said  entries,  and  upon  lands  in  private  ownership  which  may- 
be irrigated  by  the  waters  of  the  said  irrigation  project,  and  the 
number  of  annual  installments,  not  exceeding  ten,  in  which  such 
charges  shall  be  paid  and  the  time  when  such  payments  shall  com- 
mence. The  said  charges  shall  be  determined  with  a  view  of  re- 
turning to  the  Reclamation  Fund  the  estimated  cost  of  construction 
of  the  project,  and  shall  be  apportioned  equitably.  Provided, 
that  in  all  construction  work  eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's 
work,  and  no  MongoUan  labor  shall  be  employed  thereon. 

Section  5.  That  the  entiyman  upon  lands  to  be  irrigated  by 
such  works  shall,  in  addition  to  comphance  with  the  homestead 
laws,  reclaim  at  least  one-half  of  the  total  irrigable  area  of  his 
entry  for  agricultural  purposes,  and  before  receiving  patent  for 
the  lands  covered  by  his  entry  shall  pay  to  the  government  the 
charges  apportioned  against  such  tract,  as  provided  in  section 
four.  No  right  to  the  use  of  water  for  land  in  private  ownership 
shall  be  sold  for  a  tract  exceeding  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
to  any  one  landowner,  and  no  such  sale  shall  be  made  to  any  land- 
owner unless  he  be  an  actual  bona  fide  resident  on  such  land,  or 
occupant  thereof  residing  in  the  neighborhood  of  said  land,  and 
no  such  right  shall  permanently  attach  until  all  payments  therefor 
are  made.  The  annual  installments  shall  be  paid  to  the  receiver  of 
the  local  land  oflSce  of  the  district  in  which  the  land  is  situated, 
and  a  failure  to  make  any  two  payments  when  due  shall  render 
the  entry  subject  to  cancellation,  with  the  forfeiture  of  all  rights 
under  this  act,  as  well  as  of  any  moneys  alreadv  paid  thereon. 
All  moneys  received  from  the  above  sources  shall  be  paid  into  the 
Reclamation  Fund.  Registers  and  receivers  shall  be  allowed  the 
usual  commissions  on  all  moneys  paid  for  lands  entered  under  this 
act. 

Section  6.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  hereby  author- 
ized and  directed  to  use  the  Reclamation  Fund  for  the  operation 
and  maintenance  of  all  reservoirs  and  irrigation  works  constructed 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act :  Provided,  That  when  the  pay- 
ments required  by  this  act  are  made  for  the  major  portion  of  the 
lands  irrigated  from  the  waters  of  any  of  the  works  herein  provided 
for,  then  the  management  and  operation  of  such  irrigation  works 
shall  pass  to  the  owners  of  the  lands  irrigated  thereby,  to  be  main- 
tained at  their  expense  under  such  form  of  organization  and  under 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  may  be  acceptable  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior:  Provided,  That  the  title  to  and  the  management 
and  operation  of  the  reservoirs  and  the  works  necessary  for  their 
protection  and  operation  shall  remain  in  the  government  until 
otherwise  provided  by  Congress. 


590  APPENDIX 


Section  7.  That  where  in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this 
act  it  becomes  necessary  to  acquire  any  rights  of  property,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  hereby  authorized  to  acquire  the  same 
for  the  United  States  by  purchase  or  by  condemnation  under  ju- 
dicial process,  and  to  pay  from  the  Reclamation  Fund  the  sums 
which  may  be  needed  for  that  purpose,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  upon  every  applica- 
tion of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under  this  act,  to  cause  pro- 
ceedings to  be  commenced  for  condemnation  within  thirty  days 
from  the  receipt  of  the  application  at  the  Department  of  Justice. 

Section  8.  That  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  construed  as  af- 
fecting or  intended  to  affect  or  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  laws 
of  any  state  or  territory  relating  to  the  control,  appropriation, 
use,  or  distribution  of  water  used  in  irrigation,  or  any  vested  right 
acquired  thereunder,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  carry- 
ing out  the  provisions  of  the  act,  shall  proceed  in  conformity  with 
such  laws,  and  nothing  herein  shall  in  any  way  affect  any  right 
of  any  priator,  or  user  of  water  in,  to,  or  from  any  interstate 
stream  or  the  waters  thereof:  Provided,  That  the  right  to  the  use 
of  water  acquired  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  appur- 
tenant to  the  land  irrigated,  and  beneficial  use  shall  be  the  basis, 
the  measure,  and  the  limit  of  the  right. 

Section  9.  That  it  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  duty  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  so  far  as  the  same  may  be  practicable  and  subject  to  the  ex- 
istence of  feasible  irrigation  projects,  to  expend  the  major  por- 
tion of  the  funds  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands  within  each 
state  and  territory  herein  before  named  for  the  benefit  of  arid  and 
semi-arid  lands  within  the  limits  of  such  state  or  territory:  Pro- 
vided, that  the  Secretary  may  temporarily  use  such  portion  of  said 
funds  for  the  benefit  of  arid  or  semi-arid  lands  in  any  particular 
state  or  territory  hereinbefore  named  as  he  may  deem  advisable, 
but  when  so  used  the  excess  shall  be  restored  to  the  fund  as  soon 
as  practicable,  to  the  end  that  ultimately,  and  in  any  event, 
within  each  ten-year  period  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  the  ex- 
penditures for  the  benefit  of  the  said  states  and  territories  shall  be 
equalized  according  to  the  proportions  and  subject  to  the  condi- 
tions as  to  practicability  and  feasibility  aforesaid. 

Section  10.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  hereby  au- 
thorized to  perform  any  and  all  acts  and  to  make  such  rules  and 
regulations  as  may  be  necessary  and  proper  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  the  provisions  of  this  act  into  full  force  and  effect.  (32 
Stat.  L.,  388. ) 

Approved,  June  17, 1902. 


APPENDIX  n 


RECLAMATION  PROJECTS 

The  following  selections  from  the  government  report  on  re- 
clamation projects  will  show  something  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
work  now  in  progress. 

COLORADO,  UNCOMPAHGRE  VALLEY  PROJECT 

This  project  provides  for  the  diversion  of  waters  of  Gunnison 
River  by  means  of  a  tunnel  30,583  feet  in  length,  cross  section 
ten  and  one  half  by  eleven  and  one  half  feet,  cement  Uned,  with 
a  capacity  of  1,300  second  feet.  The  tunnel  passes  through  a 
range  of  mountains  and  carries  the  water  to  Uncompahgre  Valley, 
where  it  will  be  used  to  supplement  the  local  supply  and  extend 
the  irrigable  area  to  about  150,000  acres  of  land.  Work  on  the 
tunnel  was  commenced  in  1904  and  it  is  expected  that  it  will 
carry  water  during  the  present  season.  There  are  108  miles  of 
main  canals  in  the  distributing  system. 

The  lands  to  be  irrigated  lie  in  Montrose  and  Delta  Counties, 
township  15  S.,  ranges  94  to  96  W.,  6th  P.M.,  and  townships  48  to 
61  north,  ranges  7  to  12  W.,  N.M.M.  The  general  elevation  is 
5,000  to  6,400  feet  above  sea  level  and  the  temperature  ranges 
from  20  degrees  below  to  98  degrees  above  zero.  The  watershed 
area  is  3,850  square  miles,  and  the  estimated  run-off  of  watershed 
is  1,500,000  acre-feet.  The  rainfall  on  the  irrigable  area  is  from 
6  to  12  inches,  and  the  rainfall  on  the  watershed  ranges  from  7 
to  20  inches. 

The  lands  for  which  water  is  now  available  are  all  in  private 
ownership,  but  upon  the  completion  of  the  works  about  15,000 
acres  will  be  opened  to  entry.  The  farm  unit  varies  from  40  to 
80  acres,  and  the  duty  of  water  is  one  second-foot  at  headgateo 
per  80  acres.  About  60,000  acres  are  suitable  for  raising  first- 
class  apples  and  peaches.  Orchard  lands  produce  as  high  as 
$500  per  acre  net  m  the  valley.  The  bottom  lands,  comprising 
from  80,000  to  90,000  acres,  are  adapted  to  the  growing  of  alfalfa 
and  sugar  beets.  Farmers  make  as  nigh  as  $80  per  acre  net  from 
the  latter  crop,  and  from  $100  to  $200  per  acre  from  potatoes. 
The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railroad  traverses  the  tract,  with 
stations  at  Montrose,  Olathe  and  Delta.  The  principal  markets 
are  Denver  and  the  local  mining  camps,  although  the  apples  are 
shipped  also  to  eastern  markets. 


522  APPENDIX 


IDAHO,  MINIDOKA  PROJECT. 

The  irrigable  area  under  the  Minidoka  project  consists  of  about 
84,200  acres  under  the  gravity  system  (77,320  acres  being  public, 
6,680  state,  and  200  acres  private  land, )  and  49,900  acres  under 
the  pumping  svstem.  The  lands  he  on  both  sides  of  Snake  River, 
in  Lincoln  and  Cassia  counties. 

The  engineering  work  involves  the  construction  of  a  storage 
reservoir  at  Jackson  Lake,  Wyoming,  on  the  headwaters  of 
Snake  River;  a  diversion,  power  and  storage  dam  on  Snake 
River,  at  a  point  about  6  miles  south  of  Minidoka,  Idaho;  and 
two  canal  systems,  one  on  each  side  of  the  river,  heading  at  the 
diversion  dam  and  covering  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  Acequia, 
Rupert,  and  Heyburn.  Power  is  being  developed  at  the  diver- 
sion dam  for  generating  electrical  energy  for  pumping  water  to 
lands  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  too  high  to  be  reached  by  a 
Kravity  system.  A  temporary  dam  impounding  300,000  acre- 
feet  of  water  has  been  erected  at  Jackson  Lake,  the  diversion  and 
power  dam  and  the  distributing  canals  for  the  gravity  system  are 
finished,  and  the  power  and  pumping  plants  and  canals  for  the 
pumping  system  are  under  construction.  Both  dams  are  earth 
and  rock-fill  type.  The  storage  dam  is  50  feet  high,  and  4,300 
feet  long,  and  the  diversion  dam  has  a  height  of  52  feet  and  a 
length  of  600  feet.  The  gravity  system  has  130  miles  of  main 
canal  and  190  miles  of  laterals,  and  there  are  70  miles  of  main 
canal  and  60  miles  of  laterals  under  the  pumping  system.  The 
power  transmission  Unes  will  have  a  length  of  from  13  to  20  miles. 

The  soil  is  sandy  loam  and  volcanic  ash,  free  from  alkali  and 
exceedingly  fertile.  The  sandy  soil  is  particularly  adapted  to 
the  raising  of  alfalfa,  potatoes,  beet  and  other  root  crops,  as  well 
as  melons,  strawberries,  etc.  It  is  also  especially  adaped  to 
the  cultivation  of  sugar  beets.  The  ashy  formation  is  better 
adapted  to  grain,  orchards,  etc.  Noting  the  success  of  farmers  on 
the  nearest  cultivated  land  the  settlers  under  the  Minidoka  pro- 
ject planted  more  than  a  thousand  acres  to  apples  in  1908.  It  is 
believed  that  all  fruits  of  a  hardy  variety  will  produce  abundantly 
in  this  section. 

The  general  elevation  is  4,200  feet  above  sea  level,  and  the 
climate  delightful.  There  is  an  ample  water  supply.  The  water- 
shed area  is  17,900  square  miles,  and  the  estimated  annual  run-off 
is  7,200,000  acre-feet.  The  average  annual  rainfall  on  the  irri- 
gable area  is  15  to  19  inches. 

The  cost  of  water  right  is  $30  per  acre,  payable  in  ten  annual 
installments,  and  the  operation  and  maintenance  charge  for  1909 
is  60  cents  per  acre  for  the  gravity  system.    The  building,  opera- 


APPENDIX  623 


tion  and  maintenance  charges  for  the  high  areas  to  which  water 
must  be  pumped  have  not  been  fixed. 

The  Oregon  Short  Line  railway  traverses  the  tract,  with  sta- 
tions at  the  three  government  town  sites,  Heybum,  Rupert  and 
Acequia,  and  also  at  Minidoka  and  Burley.  The  markets  at 
present  are  the  local  towns  and  Montana.  The  fann  unit  is  40 
acres  within  a  radius  of  li  miles  from  the  center  of  each  of  the 
government  town  sites,  and  80  acres  on  other  lands. 

WYOMING,  SHOSHONE  PROJECT: 

This  project  involves  the  construction  of  an  impounding  dam 
at  the  head  of  the  canyon  of  the  Shoshone  River  in  northern 
Wyoming,  and  the  diversion  of  the  waters  for  the  irrigation  of 
about  150,000  acres  of  public  land.  Fifteen  thousand  acres  were 
opened  to  entry  in  1908,  and  so  rapidly  were  the  lands  taken  up 
that  work  has  been  pushed  on  the  second  unit  and  it  is  expected 
that  about  14,000  acres  will  be  opened  on  May  22.  1909. 

The  elevation  is  about  4,500  feet  above  sea  level,  and  the  tem- 
perature ranges  from  20  degrees  below  to  95  degrees  above  zero. 
The  cUmate  is  dry  and  delightful  and  the  soil  of  hght,  sandy  and 
clay  loam,  produces  abundantly  when  water  is  applied.  Hay, 
wheat,  oats,  barley,  and  the  hardier  vegetables  can  be  grown,  also 
potatoes,  sugar  beets  and  hardy  fruits.  Large  numbers  of  cattle 
and  sheep  are  pastured  on  the  surrounding  ranges  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  year,  but  require  feeding  in  the  winter  months, 
80  that  there  is  always  a  good  home  market  for  hay.  Hog  and 
poultry  raising  are  also  very  profitable. 

The  farm  unit  varies  from  40  to  80  acres  of  irrigable  land. 
The  building  charge  is  $46  per  acre  of  irrigable  land,  payable  in 
ten  annual  installments.  The  annual  maintenance  and  opera- 
tion charge  at  present  is  $1  per  acre.  One-tenth  of  the  building 
charge  and  one  year's  maintenance  charge,  or  $5.60  per  acre,  are 
due  at  the  time  of  filing.  The  tract  is  traversed  by  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  and  Quincy  railroad,  and  haa  good  transportation 
facilities  to  the  big  markets  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the 
Pacific  coast. 

The  watershed  area  is  1,380  square  miles,  the  average  annual 
rainfall  on  watershed  15  inches,  and  the  estimated  annual  run-oflF 
is  1,000,000  acre-feet.  The  rainfall  on  the  irrigable  area  is  from 
6  to  10  inches. 

Considerable  interest  attaches  to  the  engineering  work  on  this 

E reject,  as  the  Shoshone  dam  will  be  the  highest  structure  of  its 
ind  in  the  world.     It  will  be  328^  feet  high  from  bed  rock  to  top 
of  parapet  walls,  108  feet  thick  on  the  bottom  and  only  200  feet 


5«4  APPENDIX 


lone  on  top.  The  reservoir  created  by  it  haa  an  area  of  6,600  acres 
and  a  capacity  of  456,000  acre-feet.  The  diversion  dam,  which 
turns  the  waters  of  the  river  through  a  tunnel  3  J  miles  long,  into 
the  main  canal,  is  a  reinforced  gravity  structure  18  feet  high  and 
400  feet  long. 

Four  flourishing  towns,  Cody,  Garland,  Powell,  and  Ralston  are 
located  on  the  project.  They  contain  schools,  churches,  banks, 
newspapers,  manufacturing  establishments,  hotels,  stores,  etc.. 
and  o£fer  opportunities  for  professional  and  business  men  ana 
artisans. 

The  surrounding  mountains  are  covered  with  spruce  and  fir,  and 
supply  the  farmers  with  timber  and  the  stockmen  with  summer 
range.  Coal  mines  located  in  the  vicinity  supply  cheap  fuel  for 
domestic  and  manufacturing  purposes.  Well  water  of  good 
quality  is  found  at  depths  varying  from  30  to  50  feet. 

MONTANA,  SUN  RIVER  PROJECT. 

The  lands  under  this  project  are  located  in  Teton,  Lewis  and 
Clark,  Choteau  and  Cascade  counties,  about  25  miles  from  Great 
Falls.  Sun  River  Valley  is  about  70  miles  long  and  from  one  to 
five  miles  wide.  The  ultimate  development  of  the  project  involves 
the  reclamation  of  276,000  acres  of  land.  A  compact  body  of 
17,000  acres,  known  as  the  Fort  Shaw  unit  has  been  opened  to 
entry  and  is  being  rapidly  settled. 

The  soil  is  a  sandy  loam,  clay,  adobe,  and  alluvium.  There  is 
no  sage  or  other  brush  to  be  cleared.  The  principal  crops  are 
alfalfa,  hay,  grain,  vegetables  and  sugar  beets.  The  general 
elevation  is  3,700  feet  above  sea  level  and  the  temperature  ranges 
from  40  degrees  below  to  100  degrees  above  zero.  Fine  grazing 
lands  surround  the  project.  The  farm  units  vary  from  40  to 
160  acres  of  irrigable  land.  Wherever  practicable,  a  tract  of 
grazing  land  is  included  in  the  farm  unit. 

The  watershed  area  consists  of  850  square  miles  on  Sun  River 
and  290  square  miles  on  Teton  River,  and  the  estimated  annual 
runoff  varies  from  400,000  to  1,000,000  acre-feet.  The  average 
annual  rainfall  on  the  irrigable  area  is  12  inches. 

Farms  under  this  project  are  obtainable  under  the  homestead 
law,  subject  to  the  charges  of  actual  cost  of  water  upon  the  land. 
This  charge  has  been  fixed  at  $30  per  acre  of  irrigable  land  in 
not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  ten  annual  installments.  At  pre- 
sent the  operation  and  maintenance  charge  is  50  cents  per  acre 
per  annum,  and  the  sum  of  $3.50  is  due  and  payable  at  the  time 
of  making  entry. 

An  interesting  feature  in  connection  with  this  project  is  the 


APPENDIX  525 


establishment  of  villages  every  six  miles.  In  connection  with  the 
Fort  Shaw  imit  already  opened  the  villages  of  Fort  Shas  and 
Simms  have  been  established  and  town  lots  may  be  purchased 
at  the  local  land  ofl&ce  at  Great  Falls. 

NEVADA,  TRUCKEE-CARSON  PROJECT. 

This  project  is  located  in  Western  Nevada,  in  Churchill,  Lyon, 
and  Storey  counties,  townships  16  to  24  north,  ranges  21  to  31 
east,  M.D.M.  The  first  unit  of  the  project  was  opened  in  1907 
and  lands  are  now  subject  to  homestead  entry.  In  addition  to 
the  land  office  filing  fee,  each  settler  is  required  to  pay  $3  per  acre 
annually  for  ten  years,  without  interest  on  deferred  payments. 
An  annual  maintenance  fee  of  60  cents  per  acre  is  charged  in 
addition.  The  first  payment  of  $3.60  per  acre  must  be  paid  at 
the  time  of  filing  on  the  land.    The  farm  unit  is  80  acres. 

The  climate  in  this  valley  is  healthful  and  mild.  The  eleva- 
tion above  sea  level  is  about  4,000  feet,  and  the  temperature 
ranges  from  12  degrees  below  to  112  degrees  above  zero.  It  is  so 
dry,  however,  that  the  extremes,  which  seldom  occur,  are  not  m- 
jurious.  The  average  rainfall  on  the  irrigable  area  is  4  inches 
per  annum.  The  soil  is  sandy  loam,  clay  loam,  and  volcanic  aah, 
requiring  3  acre-feet  of  water  per  annum  for  each  acre.  The 
valley  will  produce  every  variety  of  crop  grown  in  the  north  tem- 
perature zone.  Alfalfa,  wheat,  barley,  and  oats  grow  luxuriantly, 
and  com  is  also  a  profitable  crop.  Apples,  pears,  peaches,  apri- 
cots, cherries,  potatoes,  and  garden  vegetables  do  well  and  find 
a  ready  market  in  the  nearby  mining  towns.  The  Southern 
Pacific  and  Nevada  and  California  railroads  traverse  the  tract 
and  furnish  transportation  to  the  markets  of  the  countrv. 

The  watershed  area  is  3,450  square  miles,  the  annual  rainfall 
on  the  watershed,  25  inches,  and  the  estimated  nm-oflf,  1,000,000 
acre-feet. 

A  dam  has  been  built  on  Truckee  River,  near  Wadsworth,  to 
turn  the  flow  of  the  stream  into  a  canal  31  miles  long,  which  carries 
the  waters  to  Carson  River.  Here  a  diversion  dam  turns  the 
waters  as  needed  into  two  main  canals.  The  first  unit  of  this 
project,  which  is  now  complete,  involves  more  than  600  miles  of 
canals  and  laterals,  50,000  feet  of  dikes  and  the  dams  on  Truckee 
and  Carson  Rivers.  The  project  in  its  entirety  will  irrigate  about 
400,000  acres  of  land  and  will  involve  the  construction  of  several 
storage  reservoirs  and  the  development  of  power. 


APPENDIX  III 


METHOD  OF  OBTAINING  HOMESTEAD  LANDS 

The  General  Land  OflBce  does  not  issue  maps  showing  the 
location  of  vacant  public  land  subject  to  entry.  This  information 
can  be  reliably  obtained  only  from  the  records  of  the  various  dis- 
trict land  offices,  which  are  located  as  follows: 


Alabama 

Idaho 

Montgomery 

Blackfoot 

Alaska 

Boise 

Coeur  d'Alene 

Juneau 

Halley 

Nome 

Lewiston 

Arizona 

Iowa 

Phoenix 

Des  Moines 

Arkansas 

Kansas 

Camden 

Dodge  City 

Harrison 

Topeka 

Little  Rock 

Louisiana 

California 

Natchitoches 

Eureka 

New  Orleans 

Independence 

Michigan 

Los  Angeles 
Oakland 

Marquette 

Minnesota 

Redding 

Cass  Lake 

Sacramento 

Crookston 

Susan  ville 

Duluth 

VisaUa 

Mississippi 

Colorado 

Jackson 

Del  Norte 

Missouri 

Denver 

Springfield 

Durango 

Montana 

Glenwood  Springs 

Billings 

Hugo 

Bozeman 

Lamar 

Glasgow 

Lead  ville 

Great  Falls 

Montrose 

Helena 

Pueblo 

Kalispell 

Sterling 

Lewiston 

Florida 

Miles  City 

Gainesville 

Missoula 

APPENDIX 


$^7 


Nebraska  Soxdh  Dakota 

Alliance  Aberdeen 

Broken  Bow  Bellefourche 

Lincoln  Chamberlain 

North  Platte  Gregory 

O'Neill  Lemmon 

Valentine  Pierre 

Nevada  Rapid  aty 

Carson  City  Utah 

New  Mexico  Salt  Lake  City 

Clayton  Vernal 

Las  Cruces  Washington 

Roswell  North  Yakima 

Santa  F^  Olympia 

Tucumcari  Seattle 

North  Dakota  Spokane 

Bismarck  Vancouver 

Devils  Lake  Walla  Walla 

Dickinson  Waterville 

Fargo  Wisconsin 

Minot  Wausau 

WilUston  Wyoming 

Oklahoma  Bufifalo 

El  Reno  Cheyenne 

Guthrie  Douglas 

Lawton  Evanston 

Woodward  Lander 

Oregon  Sundance 

Burns 

LaGrande 

Lakeview 

Portland 

Roseburg 

The  Dalles. 

No  specific  descriptions  of  the  character  of  the  land,  climate, 
water,  or  timber  can  be  given  by  the  General  Land  oflfice. 

Unoccupied  public  lands,  subject  to  settlement  and  entry,  are 
to  be  found  in  all  the  states  and  territories  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  except  Iowa  and  Texas.  There  is  also  considerable  vacant 
public  land  in  the  States  of  Michigan,  Florida,  Alabama,  and 
Mississippi. 

Persons  who  desire  to  make  homestead  entry  should  first  decide 
where  they  wish  to  locate,  then  go  or  write  to  the  local  land  oflSce 
of  the  district  in  which  the  lands  are  situated,  and  obtain  from 
the  records  diagrams  of  vacant  lands. 


528 


APPENDIX 


A  personal  inspection  of  the  lands  should  be  made  to  ascertain 
if  they  are  suitable,  and,  when  satisfied  on  this  point,  entry  can 
be  made  at  the  local  land  oflBce  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law, 
under  the  direction  of  the  local  land  officers,  who  will  give  the 
applicant  full  information.  Should  a  person  desire  to  obtain 
information  in  regard  to  vacant  lands  in  any  district  before  goine 
there  for  a  personal  inspection,  he  should  address  the  register  and . 
receiver  of  the  proper  local  land  oflfice,  who  will  give  him  full] 
information. 

A  list  showing  the  general  character  of  all  the  public  lane 
remaining  unentered  in  the  various  counties  of  the  public-land 
states  on  the  30th  day  of  the  preceding  June  may  be  obtained  atl 
any  time  by  addressing  "The  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land! 
Office,  Washington,  D.  C." 


APPENDIX  IV 

REPORT  ON  FORESTS— SECOND  GOVERNORS' 
CONFERENCE. 

The  United  States  now  has  550,000,000  acres  of  forested  lands, 
or  about  one-fourth  of  the  total  land  area  of  continental  United 
States.  The  original  forests  covered  not  less  than  850,000,000 
acres.  Publicly  owned  forests  cover  one-fourth  of  the  total  and 
contain  one-fifth  of  the  timber  standing;  privately  owned  forests 
cover  the  remaining  area  and  contain  the  remamder  of  timber 
standing.  Scientific  forestry  is  now  practiced  on  seventy  per  cent, 
of  the  publicly  owned  forests  and  on  less  than  one  per  cent  of  the 
privately  owned  forests.  The  total  yearly  growth  of  our  forests  is 
less  than  seven  bilUons  of  cubic  feet;  we  take  from  the  forests 
each  year,  including  waste  in  logging  and  manufacture. 
23,000,000,000  cubic  feet,  or  more  than  three  times  the  annual 
production.  We  use  annually  100,000,000  cords  of  firewood; 
40,000,000,000  feet  of  lumber;  more  than  1,000,000,000  posts, 
poles  and  fence  rails;  118,000,000  hewn  ties;  1,500,000,000  staves; 
133,0000,000  sets  of  heading;  500,000,000  barrel  hoops;  3,000,000 
cords  of  native  pulpwood;  165,000,000  cubic  feet  of  round  mine 
timbers,  and  1,250,000  cords  of  wood  for  distillation.  Not  less 
than  50,000,000  acres  of  forest  land  is  burned  over  annually,  and 
since  1870  forest  fires  have  each  year  destroyed  an  average  of 
fifty  fives  and  $50,000,000  worth  of  timber.  One-fourth  of  the 
standing  timber  is  left  or  otherwise  lost  in  logging:  the  boxing  of 
long-leaf  pine  for  turpentine  has  destroyed  one-fiftn  of  the  forests 
worked;  the  loss  in  the  mill  is  from  one-third  to  two-thirds  of  the 
timber  sawed  and  the  loss  in  the  mill  product,  from  seasoning  and 
fitting  for  use,  is  from  one-seventh  to  one-fourth.  In  other  words, 
only  320  feet  of  lumber  is  used  for  every  1 ,000  feet  that  stood  in  the 
forests.  Our  lumber  cut  has  increased  less  than  fifteen  per  cent  in 
the  last  seven  years,  but  the  average  price  at  the  mill,  for  all 
kinds  of  lumber,  has  risen  forty-nine  per  cent,  and  the  rise  contin- 
ues. We  invite  by  over-taxation  the  misuse  of  our  forests,  and 
we  destroy  by  fire  in  one  year  timber  enough  to  supply  the  whole 
nation  for  three  months.  We  should  plant,  to  protect  farms  from 
Wind  and  to  make  stripped  and  treeless  lands  productive,  an  area 
larger  than  that  of  the  States  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  West 
Virginia  combined ;  so  far,  lands  planted  to  trees  make  a  total  area 
less  than  Rhode  Island.    By  reasonable  thrift  we  can  produce  a 


580  APPENDIX 


conetant  timber  supply  beyond  our  present  needs,  and  with  it  con- 
serve the  usefuhiess  of  our  streams  for  navigation,  power,  irriga- 
tion, and  water  supply.  The  conservation  of  pubUc  forests  is  the 
smaller  task  before  the  nation  and  the  states;  the  larger  task  is  to 
induce  private  owners — three  millions  of  men — to  take  care  of 
what  they  have,  and  to  teach  woodusers  how  not  to  waste.  We 
must  stop  forest  fires;  we  must,  by  careful  logging  and  other 
methods,  reduce  waste  and  leave  cutover  lands  productive;  we 
must  make  the  timber  logged  go  further,  by  preservative  treat- 
ment; we  must  avoid  needless  waste  in  the  mill,  the  factory,  and  in 
use.  We  must  plant  up  those  lands,  now  treeless,  which  will  be 
most  useful  under  forests;  we  must  so  adjust  taxes  that  cut-over 
lands  can  be  held  for  a  second  timber  crop,  and  we  must  recognize 
the  fact  that  timber  costs  no  less  to  grow  than  to  log  and  saw. 
We  must  continue  and  perfect,  by  states  and  nation,  the  preserva- 
tion by  wise  use  of  the  forests  already  publicly  owned,  and  we  must 
extend  the  same  treatment  to  other  mountain  forests  more  valu- 
able /or  the  permanent  benefit  of  the  many  than  for  the  profit  of  the 
few. 


APPENDIX  V 


SCHOOLS  OF  FORESTRY 
PostrGraduate  Schools 

YALE  UNIVERSITY,  FOREST  SCHOOL,  NEW  HAVEN, 

CONN. — A  two  years'  post-graduate  course,  leading  to  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Forestry.  Under  the  direction  of  the  oflBcera 
of  the  Yale  Forest  School,  a  two  months'  summer  course,  July  and 
August,  is  conducted  at  Milford,  Pike  County,  Pa. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN,  FOREST  SCHOOL  (Part 
of  the  general  department  of  literature,  science,  and  the  arts, ) 
ANN  ARBOR,  MICH. — A  two  years'  post-graduate  course, 
leading  to  the  degree  of  Master  of  Science  in  Forestry.  A  six 
weeks'  summer  course,  in  July  and  August,  is  conducted  on  the 
state  reserve  at  Roscommon. 

HARVARD  UNIVERSITY,  FOREST  SCHOOL,  CAM- 
BRIDGE, MASS. — A  two  years'  graduate  course,  in  connection 
with  the  Graduate  School  of  AppUed  Science. 

Undergraduate  Schools 

BILTMORE  FOREST  SCHOOL,  BILTMORE,  N.  C— 
Coiu^e  covers  one  full  year,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Forestry,  and,  with  two  years  of  practical  forest  work,  the  degree 
of  Forest  Engineer. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MINNESOTA,  SCHOOL  OF  FOR- 
ESTRY, ST.  ANTHONY  PARK,  MINN.— A  four  years'  under- 
graduate course  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  in 
forestry.  A  six  weeks'  summer  course,  in  July  and  August,  if 
conducted  at  the  Itasca  State  Forest. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  NEBRASKA,  DEPARTMENT  OF 
FORESTRY,  LINCOLN,  NEBR.— A  four  years'  undergraduate 
course,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science. 

MICHIGAN  STATE  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE,  DE- 
PARTMENT OF  FORESTRY,  EAST  LANSING,  MICH.— A 
four  years'  undergraduate  course,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bach- 
elor of  Science. 


5S2  APPENDIX 


PENNSYLVANIA  STATE  COLLEGE,  FOREST  SCHOOL, 
STATE  COLLEGE,  PA.— A  four  years'  undergraduate  course,  in 
connection  with  the  State  Department  of  Agriculture,  leading  to 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  WASHINGTON,  SCHOOL  OF  FOR- 
ESTRY, SEATTLE,  WASH.— A  four  years'  undergraduate 
course  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  in  forestry. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  GEORGIA,  DEPARTMENT  OF  FOR- 
ESTRY, ATHENS,  GA.— A  four  years'  undergraduate  course, 
leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  in  Forestry. 

COLORADO  SCHOOL  OF  FORESTRY,  COLORADO 
SPRINGS,  COLO. — A  three  years'  undergraduate  course,  leading 
to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Forestry.  No  entrance  requirements. 
A  summer  course  is  conducted  at  Manitou  Park  from  July  15  to 
September  15. 

THE  MONT  ALTO  FORESTRY  ACADEMY,  MONT 
ALTO,  PA. — Maintained  by  the  Pennsylvania  Department  of 
Forestry  for  the  training  of  young  men  of  the  state  for  work  on 
the  state  forest  reserves. 

Courses  in  forestry  are  now  given  at  the  University  of  Maine, 
Orono,  Me.,  Iowa  State  College,  Ames,  Iowa;  Mississippi  Agricul- 
tural and  Mechanical  College,  Agricultural  College,  Miss.; Purdue 
University,  Lafayette,  Ind.;  Berea  College,  Berea,  Ky.;  College 
of  Washington,  Pullman,  Wash.;  Winona  Agricultural  Institute, 
Winona  Lake,  Ind. ;  North  Dakota  School  of  Forestry,  Bottineau, 
N.  Dak. 

A  course  of  lectures  is  given  annually  at  the  Massachusetts 
State  Agricultural  College,  Amherst;  at  the  Maryland  Agricul- 
tural College,  College  Park;  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madi- 
son; at  the  Agricultural  College  of  Utah.  Logan;  at  the  Connecti- 
cut Agricultural  College,  Storrs;  and  at  tne  State  Agricultural  Col- 
lege of  Colorado,  Fort  CoUins. 

(Taken  from  government  report. ) 


APPENDIX  VI 

(a) 
AGRICULTURAL   COLLEGES   AND   OTHER    INSTITU- 
TIONS IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  HAVING  COURSES 
IN  AGRICULTURE 

College  instruction  in  agriculture  is  given  in  the  colleges  and 
universities  receiving  the  benefits  of  the  acts  of  Congress  of 
July  2,  1862,  and  August  30,  1890,  which  are  now  in  operation  in 
all  the  states  and  territories,  except  Alaska,  Hawaii,  and  Porto 
Rico.  The  total  number  ot  these  institutions  is  sixty-five,  of 
which  sixty-three  maintain  courses  of  instruction  in  agriculture. 
In  twenty-one  states  the  agricultural  colleges  are  departments 
of  the  state  universities.  In  fifteen  states  and  territories  separate 
institutions  having  courses  in  agriculture  are  maintained  for  the 
colored  race.  All  of  the  agricultural  colleges  for  white  persona 
and  several  of  those  for  negroes  offer  four-year  courses  m  agri- 
culture and  its  related  sciences  leading  to  bachelors'  degrees,  and 
many  provide  for  graduate  study.  About  fifty-nine  of  these 
institutions  also  provide  special,  short,  and  correspondence 
courses  in  the  different  branches  of  agriculture,  including  agro- 
nomy, horticulture,  animal  husbandry,  poultry  raising,  cheese 
making,  dairying,  sugar  making,  rural  engineering,  farm  me- 
chanics, and  other  technical  subjects.  The  officers  of  the  agri- 
cultural colleges  engage  quite  largely  in  conducting  farmers'  insti- 
tutes and  various  other  forms  of  college  extension.  The  agri- 
cultural experiment  stations  with  very  few  exceptions  are 
departments  of  the  agricultural  colleges.  The  total  number  of 
persons  engaged  in  the  work  of  education  and  research  in  the  land- 
grant  colleges  and  the  experiment  stations  in  1907  was  6,243: 
the  number  of  students  in  these  colleges,  66,193;  the  number  of 
students  (white )  in  the  four-year  college  courses  in  agriculture, 
3,738;  in  short  and  special  courses,  6,334.  There  were  also 
1,659  students  in  agriculture  in  the  separate  institutions  for 
negroes.  With  a  few  exceptions,  each  of  these  colleges  offers 
free  tuition  to  residents  of  the  state  in  which  it  is  located.  In 
the  excepted  cases  scholarships  are  open  to  promising  and  ener- 
getic students;  and,  in  all,  opportunities  are  found  for  some  to 
earn  part  of  their  expenses  by  their  own  labor.  The  expenses  are 
from  $125  to  $300  for  the  school  year. 


APPENDIX  VI 

ib) 
FARMERS'  BULLETINS 

The  following  is  a  list,  by  number,  of  the  farmers'  bulletins 
available  for  distribution.  The  bulletins  entitled  "Experiment 
Station  Work"  give  in  brief  the  results  of  experiments  performed 
by  the  state  experiment  stations.  Bulletins  in  this  list  will  be 
sent  free  to  any  address  in  the  United  States  on  appUcation  to 
your  senator,  representative,  or  delegate  in  Ck)ngress,  or  to  the 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 

22,  The  Feeding  of  Farm  Animals,  P.  40;  24,  Hog  Cholera  and 
Swine  Plague,  P.  16;  27,  Flax  for  Seed  and  Fiber,  P.  16;  28,  Weeds 
And  How  to  Kill  Them,  P.  30;  30,  Grape  Diseases  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  P.  15;  32,  Silos  and  Silage,  P.  30;  33,  Peach  Growing  for 
Market,  P.  24;  34,  Meats:  Composition  and  Cooking,  P.  31;  35, 
Potato  Culture,  P.  24;  36.  Cotton  Seed  and  Its  Products,  P.  16; 
42,  Facts  About  Milk.  P.  32;  44,  Commercial  Fertilizers,  P.  38; 
47,  Insects  Affecting  the  Cotton  Plant,  P.  32;  48,  The  Manuring 
of  Cotton,  P.  16;  51,  Standard  Varieties  of  Chickens,  P.  48; 
62,  The  Sugar  Beet,  P.  48;  54,  Some  Common  Birds,  P.  48;  55, 
The  Dairy  Herd,  P.  30;  56,  Experiment  Station  Work,  I,  P.  30; 
68,  The  Soy  Bean  as  a  Forage  Crop,  P.  24;  59,  Bee  Keeping,  P.  48; 
60,  Methods  of  Curing  Tobacco,  P.  24;  61,  Asparagus  Culture,  P. 
40;  62,  Marketing  Farm  Produce,  P.  31 ;  63,  Care  of  Milk  on  the 
Farm,  P.  40;  64,  Ducks  and  Geese,  P.  55;  65,  Experiment  Station 
Work,  II,  P.  32;  66,  Meadows  and  Pastures,  P.  30;  69,  Experi- 
ment Station  Work,  III.,  P.  32;  71,  Essentials  in  Beef  Produc- 
tion, P.  24;  72,  Cattle  Ranges  of  the  Southwest,  P.  32;  73,  Experi- 
ment Station  Work,  IV.,  P.  32;  74,  Milk  as  Food,  P.  39;  77,  The 
Liming  of  Soils,  P.  24;  78,  Experiment  Station  Work,  V.,  P,  32; 
79,  Experiment  Station  Work,  VI.,  P.  27;  80,  The  Peach  Twig- 
Borer,  P.  16;  81,  Com  Culture  in  the  South,  P.  24;  82,  The 
Culture  of  Tobacco,  P.  22;  83,  Tobacco  Soils,  P.  23;  84,  Experi- 
ment Station  Work,  VII.,  P.  32;  85,  Fish  as  Food,  P.  32;  86, 
Thirty  Poisonous  Plants,  P.  32;  87,  Experiment  Station  Work, 
VIII.,  P.  32;  88,  Alkali  Lands,  P.  23;  91,  Potato  Diseases  and 
Treatment,  P.  15;  92,  Experiment  Station  Work,  IX.,  P.  30;  93, 
Sugar  as  Food,  P.  31;  97,  Experiment  Station  Work,  X.,  P.  32; 
98,  Suggestions  to  Southern  Farmers,  P.  48;  99,  Insect  Enemies 


J 


APPENDIX  535 


of  Shade  Trees,  P.  30;  100,  Hog  Raising  in  the  South,  P.  40; 
101,  Millets,  P.  30;  102,  Southern  Forage  Plants,  P.  48;  103, 
Experiment  Station  Work,  XL,  P.  30;  104,  Notes  on  Frost,  P.  31; 
105,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XXL,  P.  32;  106,  Breeds  of  Dairy 
Cattle,  P.  48;  107,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XIII.,  P.  32; 
108,  Saltbushes,  P.  20;  110,  Rice  Culture  in  the  United  States, 
P.  28;  112,  Bread  and  Bread-Making,  P.  40;  113,  The  Apple  and 
How  to  Grow  it,  P.  32;  114,  Experiment  Station  Work,  5aV.,  P. 
28;  116,  Irrigation  in  Fruit  Growing,  P.  48;  118,  Grape  Growing 
in  the  South,  P.  32;  119,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XV.,  P.  30: 
120,  Insects  Affecting  Tobacco,  P.  32;  121,  Beans,  Peas,  ana 
Other  Legumes  as  Food,  P.  38;  122,  Experiment  Station  Work, 
XVL,  P.  32;  124,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XVIII.  P.  32; 
125,  Protection  of  Food  Products  from  Injurious  Temperatures, 
P.  24;  126,  Practical  Suggestions  for  Farm  Buildings,  P.  48; 
127,  Important  Insecticides,  P.  46;  128,  Eggs  and  Their  Uses  as 
Food,  P.  40;  131,  Household  Tests  for  Detection  of  Oleomar- 
garine and  Renovated  Butter,  P.  10;  132,  Insect  Enemies  of 
Growing  Wheat,  P.  38;  133,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XVIIL, 
P.  32;  134,  Tree  Planting  in  Rural  School  Grounds,  P.  32;  135, 
Sorghum  Sirup  Manufacture^ P.  40;  137,  The  Angora  Goat,  P.  48; 
138,  Irrigation  in  Field  and  Garden,  P.  40;  139,  Emmer:  A  Grain 
for  the  Semi-arid  Regions,  P.  16;  140,  Pineapple  Growing,  P.  48; 
142,  Principles  of  Nutrition  and  Nutritive  Value  of  Food,  P.  48; 
144,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XIX.,  P.  32;  145,  Carbon  Bi- 
sulphide as  an  Insecticide,  P.  28;  147,  Winter  Forage  Crops  for 
the  South,  P.  40;  149,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XX.,  P.  32; 
150,  Clearing  New  Land,  P.  24;  151,  Dairying  in  the  South,  P.  48; 
152,  Scabies  in  Cattle,  P.  32;  154,  The  Home  Fruit  Garden: 
Preparation  and  Care.  P.  16;  155,  How  Insects  Affect  Health  in 
Rural  Districts,  P.  19;  156,  The  Home  Vineyard,  P.  22;  157, 
The  Propagation  of  Plants,  P.  24;  158,  How  to  Build  Small 
IrrigationDitches,  P.  28;  159,  Scab  in  Sheep,  P.  48;  161,  Practi- 
cal Suggestions  for  Fruit  Growers,  P.  30;  162,  Experiment 
Station  Work,  XXL,  P.  32;  164,  Rape  as  a  Forage  Crop,  P.  16; 
165,  Silkworm  Culture,  P.  32;  166,  Cheese  Making  on  the  Farm, 
P.  16;  167,  Cassava,  P.  32;  168,  Pearl  Millet,  P.  16;  169,  Experi- 
ment Station  Work,  XXIL,  P.  32;  170,  Principles  of  Horse  Feed- 
ing, P.  44;  172,  Scale  Insects  and  Mites  on  Citrufl  Trees,  P.  43; 
173,  Primer  of  Forestry,  P.  48;  174,  Broom  Com,  P.  30;  175, 
Home  Manufacture  and  Use  of  Unfermented  Grape  Juice,  P.  16, 
176,  Cranberry  Culture,  P.  20;  177,  Squab  Raising,  P.  32;  178, 
Insects  Injurious  in  Cranberry  Culture,  P  32;  179,  Horseshoe- 
ing, P.  30;  181,  Pruning,  P.  39;  182,  Poultry  as  Food,  P.  40; 
183,  Meat  on  the  Farm:  Butchering,  Curing,  and  Keeping,  P.  37; 


SS8  APPENDIX 


185,  Beautifying  the  Home  Grounds,  P.  24;  186,  Experiment 
Station  Work,  XXIIL,  P.  32;  187,  Drainage  of  Farm  Lands,  P. 
38;  188,  Weeds  Used  in  Medicine,  P.  45;  190,  Experiment  Station 
Work,  XXIV.,  P.  32;  192,  Barnyard  Manure,  P.  32;  193,  Ex- 
periment Station  Work,  XXV.,  P.  32;  194,  Alfalfa  Seed,  P.  14; 
195,  Annual  Flowering  Plants,  P.  48;  196,  Usefulness  of  the 
American  Toad,  P.  16;  197,  Importation  of  Game  Birds  and  Eggs 
for  Propagation,  P.  30;  198,  Strawberries,  P.  24;  199,  Com  Grow- 
ing, P.  32;  200,  Turkeys,  P.  40;  201,  Cream  Separator  on  Western 
Farms, P. 23;  202, Experiment  Station  Work,  XXVI.,  P. 32;  203, 
Canned  Fruits,  Preserves  and  Jellies,  P.  32;  204,  The  Cultivation 
of  Mushrooms,  P.  24;  205,  Pig  Management,  P.  45;  206,  Milk 
Fever  and  Its  Treatment,  P.  16;  208,  Varieties  of  Fruits  Recom- 
mended for  Planting,  P.  48;  209,  Controlling  the  Boll  Weevil  in 
Cotton  Seed  and  at  Ginneries,  P.  32 ;  210,  Experiment  Station  Work, 
XXVII.,  P.  32;  211,  The  Use  of  Paris  Green  in  Controlling  the 
Cotton  Boll  Weevil.  P.  23;  213,  Raspberries,  P.  38;  215,  Alfalfa 
Growing,  P.  40;  217,  Essential  Steps  in  Securing  an  Early  Crop  of 
Cotton,  P.  16;  218,  The  School  Garden,  P.  40;  219,  Lessons  from 
the  Grain  Rust  Epidemic  of  1904,  P.  24;  220,  Tomatoes,  P.  32; 
221,  Fungous  Diseases  of  the  Cranberry,  P.  16;  222,  Experiment 
Station  Work,  XXVIII.,  P.  32;  223,  Miscellaneous  Cotton  In- 
sects in  Texas,  P.  24;  224,  Canadian  Field  Peaa,  P.  16;  225, 
Experiment  Station  Work,  XXIX.,  P.  32;  226,  Relation  of 
Coyotes  to  stock  Raising  in  the  West,  P.  24;  227,  Experiment 
Station  Work,  XXX.,  P.  32;  228,  Forest  Planting  and  Farm 
Management,  P.  22;  229,  The  Production  of  Good  Seed  Com, 
P.  24;  231,  Spraying  for  Cucumber  and  Melon  Diseases,  P.  24; 
232,  Okra:  Its  Culture  and  Uses,  P.  16;  233,  Experiment  Station 
Work,  XXXI.,  P.  32;  234,  The  Guinea  Fowl,  p.  24;  235,  Prepa- 
ration of  Cement  Concrete,  P.  32;  236,  Incubation  and  Incuba- 
tors, P.  32;  237,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XXXII.,  P.  32; 
238,  Citrus  Fruit  Growing  in  the  Gulf  States,  P.  48;  239,  The 
Corrosion  of  Fence  Wire,  P.  32;  241,  Butter  Making  on  the  Farm, 
P.  32;  242,  An  Example  of  Model  Farming,  P.  16;  243,  Fungi- 
cides and  Their  Use  in  Preventing  Diseases  of  Fruits,  P.  32; 
244,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XXXIII.,  P.  32;  245,  Renova- 
tion of  W^om-Out  Soils,  P.  16;  246,  Saccharine  Sorghums  for 
Forage,  P.  37;  248,  The  Lawn,  P.  20;  249,  Cereal  Breakfast 
Foods,  P.  36;  250,  The  Prevention  of  Wheat  Smut  and  Ix)ose 
Smut  of  Oats,  P.  16;  251,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XXXIV., 
P.  32;  252,  Maple  Sugar  and  Sirup,  P.  36;  253,  The  Germination 
of  Seed  Com,  P.  16;  254,  Cucumbers,  P.  30;  255,  The  Home 
Vegetable  Garden,  P.  47;  256,  Preparation  of  Vegetables  for  the 
Table,  P.  48;  257,  SoU  FertiUty,  P.  39;  258,  Texas  or  Tick  Fever 


APPENDIX  537 


and  Its  Prevention,  P.  45;  259,  Experiment  Station  Work, 
XXXV,.  P.  32;  260,  Seed  of  Red  Clover  and  Its  Impurities,  P.  24 ; 
241,  The  Cattle  Tick,  P.  22;  262,  Experiment  Station  Work, 
XXXVI.,  p.  32;  263,  Practical  Information  for  Beginners  in 
Irrigation,  P.  40;  264,  The  Brown-Tail  Moth  and  How  to 
Control  It,  P.  22;  266,  Management  of  Soils  to  Conserve  Moisture, 
P.  30;  267,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XXXVII,  P.  32;  268, 
Industrial  Alchohol:  Sources  and  Manufacture,  P.  45;  269, 
Industrial  Alcohol:  Uses  and  Statistics.  P.  29;  270,  Modern 
Conveniences  for  the  Farm  Home,  P.  48;  271,  Forage  Crop  Prac- 
tices in  Western  Oregon  and  Western  Washington,  P.  39;  272, 
A  Successful  Hog  and  Seed-Com  Farm,  P.  16;  273,  Experiment 
Station  Work,  XXXVIII,  P.  32;  274,  Flax  Culture,  36;  275, 
The  Gypsy  Moth  and  How  to  Control  it,  P.  22;  276,  Experiment 
Station  Work,  XXXIX,  P.  32;  277,  The  Use  of  Alcohol  and 
Gasoline  in  Farm  Engines,  P.  40;  278,  Leguminous  Crops  for 
Green  Manuring,  P.  27;  279,  A  Method  of  Eradicating  Johnson 
Grass,  P.  16;  280,  A  Profitable  Tenant  Dairv  Farm,  P.  16;  281, 
Experiment  Station  Work,  XL,  P.  32;  282,  Celery,  P.  36;  283, 
Spraying  for  Apple  Diseases  and  the  CodUng  Moth  in  the  Ozarks, 
P.  42;  284,  Insect  and  Fungous  Enemies  of  the  Grape  East 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  P.  48;  285,  The  Advantage  of 
Planting  Heavy  Cotton  Seed,  P.  16;  286,  Comparative  Value 
of  Whole  Cotton  Seed  and  Cotton-seed  Meal  in  Fertilizing  Cotton, 
P,  14;  287,  Poultry  Management,  P.  48;  288,  Nonsaccharine 
Sorghums,  P.  28;  289,  Beans,  P.  28;  290,  The  Cotton  Boll  worm. 
P,  32;  291,  Evaporation  of  Apples,  P.  38;  292,  Cost  of  Filling 
Silos,  P.  15;  293,  Use  of  Fruit  as  Food,  P.  38;  291,  Farm  Practice 
in  the  Columbia  Basin  Uplands,  P.  30;  295,  Potatoes  and  Other 
Root  Crops  as  Food.  P.  45;  296,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XLl, 
P.  32;  297,  Methods  of  Destroying  Rats,  P.  8;  298,  The  Food 
Value  of  Com  and  Com  Products,  P.  40;  299,  Diversified  Farm- 
ing Under  the  Plantation  System,  P.  14;  300,  Some  Important 
Grasses  and  Forage  Plants  for  the  Gulf  Coast  Region,  P.  15; 
301,  Home-Grown  Tea,  P.  16;  302,  Sea  Island  Cotton:  Its  Cul- 
ture, Improvement,  and  Diseases,  P.  48;  303,  Corn  Harvesting 
Machinery,  P.  32;  304,  Growing  and  Curing  Hops,  P.  39;  305 
Experiment  Station  Work,  XLII,  P.  32;  306,  Dodder  in  Relation 
to  Farm  Seeds,  P.  27„  307,  Roselle:  Its  Culture  and  Uses,  P.  16, 
308,  Game  Laws  for  1907,  P.  52;  309,  Experiment  Station  Work, 
XLIII,  P.  32;  310,  A  Successful  Alabama  Diversification  Farm, 
P.  24;  311,  Sand-Clay  and  Bumt-Clay  Roads,  P.  19;  312,  A 
Successful  Southern  Hay  Farm,  P.  15;  313,  Harvesting  and 
Storing  Cora,  P.  29;  314,  A  Method  of  Breeding  Early  Cotton  to 
Escape  Boll-Weevil  Damage,  P.  28;  315,  Progress  in  Legume 


538  APPENDIX 


Innoculation,  P.  20;  316,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XLIV,  P.  32; 
317,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XLV,  P.  32;  318,  Cowpeas,  P.  28; 
319,  Demonstration  Work  in  Cooperation  with  Southern  Farmers, 
P.  22;  320,  Experiment  Station  Work,  XLVI,  P.  32;  321,  The 
Use  of  the  Spht-Log  Drag  on  Earth  Roads,  P.  14;  322,  Milo 
OB  a  Dry- Land  Grain  Crop,  P.  23;  323,  Clover  Farming  on  the 
Sandy  Jack-Pine  Lands  of  the  North,  P.  24;  324,  Sweet  Potatoes, 
P.  39;  325,  Small  Farms  in  the  Com  Belt,  P.  29;  326,  Building 
up  a  run-down  Cotton  Plantation,  P.  22;  327,  The  Conservation 
of  Natural  Resources,  P.  12. 


APPENDIX  VI 

(c) 
THE  AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS 

ALABAMA — College  Station:  Auburn;  Canebrake  Station: 
Uniontown;  Tuskegee  Station:  Tuskegee  Institute. 

ALASKA— Sitka. 

ARIZONA— Tucson. 

ARKANSAS— Fayetteville. 

CALIFORNIA— Berkeley. 

COLORADO— Fort  ColUns. 

CONNECTICUT— State  Station:  New  Haven;  Storre  Station : 
Storrs. 

DELAWARE— Newark. 

FLORIDA— Gainesville. 

GEORGIA— Experiment. 

HAWAII— Federal  Station:  Honolulu;  Sugar  Planters' Station: 
Honolulu. 

IDAHO— Moscow. 

ILLINOIS— Urbana. 

INDIANA— Lafayette. 

IOWA — Ames. 

KANSAS— Manhattan. 

KENTUCKY— Lexington. 

LOUISIANA— State  Station:  Baton  Rouge;  Sugar  Station: 
Audubon  Park,  New  Orleans;  North  Louisiana  Station. 
Calhoun. 

MAINE— Orono. 

MARYLAND— College  Park. 

MASSACHUSETTS— Amherst. 

MICHIGAN— East  Lansing. 

MINNESOTA— St.  Anthony  Park,  St.  Paul. 

MISSISSIPPI— Agricultural  College. 

MISSOURI— College  Station:  Columbia;  Fruit  Sution:  Moun- 
tain Grove. 


540  APPENDIX 


MONTANA— Bozeman. 

NEBRASKA— Lincoln. 

NEVADA— Reno. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE— Durham. 

NEW  JERSEY— New  Brunswick. 

NEW  MEXICO— Agricultural  College. 

NEW  YORK— State  Station:  Geneva;  Cornell  Station :  Ithaca. 

NORTH  CAROLINA— College  Station:  West  Raleigh;   State 

Station:  Raleigh. 
NORTH  DAKOTA— Agricultural  College. 
OHIO— Wooster. 
OKLAHOMA— Stillwater. 
OREGON— Corvallis. 
PENNSYLVANIA— State  College;  State  College:  Institute  of 

Animal  Nutrition, 
PORTO  RICO— Mayaguez. 
RHODE  ISLAND— Kingston. 
SOUTH  CAROLINA— Clemson  College. 
SOUTH   DAKOTA— Brookings. 
TENNESSEE— Knoxville. 
TEXAS— College  Station. 
UTAH— Logan. 
VERMONT— Burlington. 
VIRGINIA— Blacksburg. 
WASHINGTON— Pullman. 
WEST  VIRGINIA— Morgantown. 
WISCONSIN— Madison. 
WYOMING— Laramie. 


APPENDIX  VII 


FILIPINO  STUDENTS   IN  THE  UNITED   STATES 

At  the  date  of  the  annual  government  report,  October  31, 1907, 
123  Filipino  students  were  being  educated  in  the  United  States  at 
the  expense  of  the  PhiUppine  government,  and  one  student,  under 
the  direction  of  the  bureau,  was  being  educated  at  his  own  expense. 
These  students  were  attending  institutions  as  shown  in  the  follow* 
ing  Ust: 


Boulder,  Colo. 

University  of  Colorado ...  1 
New  Haven,  Conn. 

Yale  University 1 

District  of  Columbia. 
Georgetown  University. . .  1 
George  Washington  Uni- 
versity   1 

Chicago,  111. 

University  of  Chicago  ...  3 
Rush  Medical  College  . .  .2 
College  of  Physicians  and 

Surgeons 7 

Lewis  Institute   1 

Armour  Institute 2 

Northwestern  University 

Law  School 1 

Northwestern  University 

School  of  Pharmacy.. . .  1 
Northwestern  University 

Medical  School    2 

Manhattan,  Kans. 
State  College  of  Agricul- 
ture  7 

Boston,  Mass. 
Massachusetts  Institute 

of  Technology 1 

Lowell,  Mass. 

Lowell  Textile  School ....  1 
Lansing,  Mich. 
State  Agricultural  College  2 


St.  Paul,  Minn. 

College  of  St.  Catherine.  .2 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

St.  Louis  University 1 

Lincoln,  Neb. 

University  of  Nebraska..  .6 
De  Kalb,  111. 

Northern   Illinois   State 

Normal  School 2 

Macomb,  111. 

State  Normal  School 6 

Normal,  111. 

State  Normal  School 1 

Urbana,  111. 

University  of  Illinois  ...  10 
Bloomington,  Ind. 

Indiana  University 3 

Lafayette,  Ind. 

Purdue  University 11 

Notre  Dame,  Ind. 

St.  Mary's  Academy 2 

Ames,  Iowa 

State  College  of  Agricul- 
ture  6 

Iowa  City^  Iowa. 

University  of  Iowa 4 

Trenton,  N.  J. 

State  Normal  School 1 

Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Cornell  University 9 

Columbus,  Ohio. 


542 


APPENDIX 


Ohio  State  University 8 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 
University   of    Pennsyl- 
vania   2 

Drexel  Institute 3 


Woman's  Medical  College  2 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Providence  Technical 

High  School 1 

Madison,  Wis. 

University  of  Wisconsin  .  9 


The  courses  followed  were  as  follows: — 


Agriculture 21 

Architecture 2 

Chemistrj' 2 

Civil  engineering 35 

Electrical  engineering 1 

Mechanical  engineering    . .  12 
Law 10 


Medicine 17 

Normal  (teaching ) 17 

Pharmacy 1 

Science    3 

Textile  weaving 1 

Mining  engineering 1 


APPENDIX  Vin 

Extract  From  Naturalization  Laws 

Section  4.  That  an  alien  may  be  admitted  to  become  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States  in  the  following  manner  and  not  otherwise: 

First.  He  shall  declare  on  oath  before  the  clerk  of  any  court 
authorized  by  this  act  to  naturaUze  aUens,  or  his  authorized 
deputy,  in  the  district  in  which  such  ahen  resides,  two  years  at 
least  prior  to  his  admission,  and  after  he  has  reached  the  age  of 
eighteen  years,  that  it  is  bona  fide  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  renounce  forever  all  allegiance  and 
fidelity  to  any  foreign  prince,  potentate,  state,  or  sovereignty, 
and  particularly,  by  name,  to  the  prince,  potentate,  state,  or 
sovereignty  of  which  the  alien  may  be  at  the  time  a  citizen  or  sub- 
ject. And  such  declaration  shall  set  forth  the  name,  age,  occu- 
pation, personal  description,  place  of  birth,  last  foreign  residence, 
and  allegiance,  the  date  of  arrival,  the  name  of  the  vessel,  if  any. 
in  which  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  the  present  place  ot 
residence  in  the  United  States  of  said  alien;  PROVIDED, 
However,  That  no  alien  who,  in  conformity  with  the  law  in  force 
at  the  date  of  his  declaration,  has  declared  his  intention  to  become 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States  shall  be  required  to  renew  such  de- 
claration. 

Second.  Not  less  than  two  years  nor  more  than  seven  years 
after  he  has  made  such  declaration  of  intention  he  shall  make  and 
file,  in  duplicate,  a  petition  in  writing,  signed  by  the  appUcant  in 
his  own  handwriting  and  duly  verified,  in  which  petition  such 
appUcant  shall  state  his  full  name,  his  place  of  residence  (by 
street  and  number,  if  possible, )  his  occupation,  and,  if  possible, 
the  date  and  place  of  his  birth;  the  place  from  which  he  emigrated, 
and  the  date  and  place  of  his  arrival  in  the  United  States,  and,  if 
he  entered  through  a  port,  the  name  of  the  vessel  on  which  he 
arrived ;  the  time  when  and  the  place  and  name  of  the  court  where 
he  declared  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States; 
if  he  is  married  he  shall  state  the  name  of  his  wife,  and,  if  possible, 
the  country  of  her  nativity  and  her  place  of  residence  at  the  time  of 
filing  his  petition;  and  if  he  has  children,  the  name,  date,  and 
place  of  birth  and  place  of  residence  of  each  child  living  at  the 
time  of  the  filing  of  his  petition;  PROVIDED,  That  if  he  has  filed 
his  declaration  before  the  passage  of  this  act  he  shall  not  be  re- 
Quired  to  sign  the  petition  in  his  own  handwriting. 


544  APPENDIX 


The  petition  shall  Bet  forth  that  he  is  not  a  disbeliever  in  or 
opposed  to  organized  government,  or  a  member  of  or  affiliated 
with  any  organization  or  body  of  persons  teaching  disbelief  in  or 
opposed  to  organized  government,  a  polygamist  or  believer  in  the 
practice  of  polygamy,  and  that  it  is  his  intention  to  become  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  and  to  renounce  absolutely  and  for- 
ever all  allegiance  and  fideUty  to  any  foreign  prince,  potentate, 
state,  or  sovereignty,  and  particularly  by  name  to  the  prince, 
potentate,  state,  or  sovereignty,  of  which  he  at  the  time  of  filing 
of  his  petition  may  be  a  citizen  or  subject,  and  that  it  is  his  inten- 
tion to  reside  permanently  within  the  United  States,  and  whether 
or  not  he  has  been  denied  admission  as  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and,  if  denied,  the  ground  or  grounds  of  such  denial,  the 
court  or  courts  in  which  such  decision  was  rendered,  and  that  the 
cause  for  such  denial  has  since  been  cured  or  removed,  and  every 
fact  material  to  his  naturalization  and  required  to  be  proved  upon 
the  final  hearing  of  his  apphcation. 

The  petition  shall  also  be  verified  by  the  affidavits  of  at  least 
two  credible  witnesses,  who  are  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
and  who  shall  state  in  their  affidavits  that  they  have  personally 
known  the  applicant  to  be  a  resident  of  the  United  States  for  a 
period  of  at  least  five  years  continuously,  and  of  the  state,  terri- 
tory, or  district  in  which  the  application  is  made  for  a  period  of 
at  least  one  year  immediately  preceding  the  date  of  the  filing  of 
his  petition,  and  that  they  each  have  personal  knowledge  that  the 
petitioner  is  a  person  of  good  moral  character,  and  that  he  is  in 
every  way  qualified,  in  their  opinion,  to  be  admitted  as  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States. 

At  the  time  of  fifing  his  petition  there  shall  be  filed  with  the 
clerk  of  the  court  a  certificate  from  the  Department  of  Commerce 
and  Labor.  If  the  petitioner  arrives  in  the  United  States  after 
the  passage  of  this  act,  stating  the  date,  place,  and  manner  of  his 
arrival  in  the  United  States,  and  the  declaration  of  intention  of 
such  petitioner,  which  certificate  and  declaration  shall  be  attached 
to  and  made  a  part  of  said  petition. 

Third.  He  shall,  before  he  is  admitted  to  citizenship,  declare 
on  oath  in  open  court  that  he  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  he  absolutely  and  entirely  renounces  and 
abjures  all  allegiance  and  fidelity  to  any  foreign  prince,  potentate, 
state,  or  sovereignty  of  which  he  was  before  a  citizen  or  subject; 
that  he  will  support  and  defend  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States  against  all  enemies,  foreign  and  domestic,  and  bear 
true  faith  and  allegiance  to  the  same. 

Fourth.  It  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
court  admitting  any  ahen  to  citizenship  that  immediately  pre- 


APPENDIX  645 


ceding  the  date  of  his  application  he  has  resided  continuously  with- 
in the  United  States  five  years  at  least,  and  within  the  state  or 
territory  where  such  court  is  at  the  time  held  one  year  at  least, 
and  that  during  that  time  he  has  behaved  as  a  man  of  good  moral 
character,  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  well  disposed  to  the  good  order  and  happiness 
of  the  same.  In  addition  to  the  oath  of  the  applicant,  the  testi- 
mony of  at  least  two  witnesses,  citizens  of  the  tjnited  States,  as 
to  the  facts  of  residence,  moral  character,  and  attachment  to  the 
principles  of  the  Constitution  shall  be  required,  and  the  name,  place 
of  residence,  and  occupation  of  each  witness  shall  be  set  forth  in 
the  record. 


APPENDIX  IX 

PROVISION  REGARDING  THE  EXCLUSION  OF  FLIESl 

From  the  Banitary  code,  that  section  regarding  flies  suggf 
a  plan  of  construction  which  is  worthy  of  imitation  by  evei 
large  employer  of  labor. 

The  most  imj>ortant  sanitary  provision  in  connection  wil 
camps  is  that  of  exclusion  of  flies  from  cook  tents,  mess  tent 
and  privy  vaults;  yet  this  is  the  very  provision  which  is  mc 
frequently  overlooked.     According  to  the  report  of  the  comm 
sion  appointed  by  President  McKinley  to  investigate  into   tl 
occurrence  of  typhoid  fever  among  the  soldiers  during  the  Span 
War,  almost  every  outbreak  which  occurred  was  due  to  the  h 
of  suflScient  protection  against  flies.     Therefore  special  care  shoi 
be  taken  to  exclude  flies  from  all  places  in  which  food  stuffs  are' 
exposed,  and,  if  necessary,  in  the  large  camps  a  man  should  be 
detailed  to  accompUsh  this  purp>ose. 

Mess  and  cook  tents  or  houses  should  be  provided  with  screens 
at  all  windows,  and  each  door  which  leads  into  the  outer  air 
should  be  provided  with  a  vestibule  about  four  feet  square,  con- 
structed in  the  following  manner:  The  dividing  partition  and 
the  door  between  the  cook  or  mess  tent  and  the  vestibule  should 
be  of  wood,  as  well  aa  the  side  walls  of  the  vestibule,  for  a  dis- 
tance of  about  one  foot  from  the  dividing  wall.  The  door  and 
walls  should  be  painted  black  or  some  dark  color.  The  remainder 
of  the  vestibule  should  be  of  durable  wire  netting  and  the  door 
leading  out  from  the  vestibule  of  the  same  material.  With  such 
a  provision  the  flies  which  enter  the  outer  screen  door  during  the 
time  when  people  are  passing  through  will  be  caught  in  the  ves- 
tibule and  will  congregate  upon  the  wire  part  of  the  vestibule  in 
preference  to  the  dark  colored  wood  next  to  the  cook  or  mess  tent, 
and  only  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  flies  entering  the  vestibule 
will  under  Buch  conditione  escape  into  the  larger  apartment. 


APPENDIX  X 


TYPHOID 

Tjrphoid  fever  is  due  to  a  very  small  vegetable  organism,  the 
typhoid  bacillus.  These  little  germs  grow  in  the  human  body  in 
countless  millions,  and  as  they  die  and  disintegrate  they  set  free 
a  poison  which  causes  the  symptoms  of  typhoid  fever.  The 
typhoid  fever  germs  are  thrown  ofif  from  a  typhoid  patient  in  all 
the  excretions.  Hence  all  these  excretions  are  to  be  regarded  as 
highly  infectious,  that  is,  they  are  full  of  typhoid  germs. 

Good  management  of  a  typhoid  fever  case  has  for  its  object 
the  prevention  of  these  germs  reaching  other  people  and  pro- 
ducing other  cases  of  typhoid.  To  this  end  the  excretions,  that 
is  the  urine  and  stools,  of  typhoid  patients  should  all  be  either 
promptly  emptied  into  the  city  sewer,  or,  where  there  is  no  sewer 
connection ,  disinfected  by  the  addition  of  ten  per  cent,  formalin 
equal  in  quantity  to  the  amount  of  the  material  to  be  disinfected, 
and  left  to  stand  two  hours,  before  final  disposition. 

All  carpets,  rugs,  etc.,  should  early  be  removed  from  the  sick 
room. 

Eating  utensils  used  by  the  patient,  should  be  removed  from 
the  room  after  each  meal,  in  a  dish  pan,  and  the  pan  immediately 
filled  with  boiling  water  and  left  to  stand  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes 
before  washing. 

Soiled  bed  linen,  night  gowns,  etc.,  should  be  moved  from  the 
room  in  a  large  vessel,  say  a  zinc  pail  or  tub,  and  covered  with 
boiUng  water.  Better  still,  set  them  on  the  stove  and  let  them 
boil  awhile. 

Typhoid  fever  patients  are  never  a  source  of  danger  to  others, 
when  such  precautions  are  thoroughly  observed. 

But  if  they  are  neglected,  what  may  happen?  The  typhoid 
bacillus  is  a  living  organism,  possessed  of  stronj^  vitality,  and 
capable  of  self-propagation,  under  favorable  conditions,  even  out- 
side the  human  body.  The  favorable  conditions  are  moisture, 
warmth  and  filth.  When  it  is  not  destroyed,  it  is  far  more  apt 
to  find  these  conditions  than  any  other.  The  privy  vault,  tne 
cess-pool,  the  house-drain,  the  garbage  heap,  the  slop-puddle  of 
the  back-yard,  and  even  the  earth,  will  afford  a  suitable  soil  for 
its  reproduction  and  growth.  Into  some  one  of  these  places  it  is 
almost  sure  to  go,  and  to  maintain  a  vigorous  existence  for  an 
indefinite  time.    If  it  remain^  in  these  places  it  would  still  be 


548  APPENDIX 


harmless.  But  it  does  not  remain  there;  on  the  other  hand,  it 
shows  a  most  remarkable  and  persistent  tendency  to  get  into  and 
infect  the  water  supplies.  Only  a  few  years  ago  there  were  more 
than  fifty  cases  of  the  disease  in  Waterbury,  Conn.,  among  the 
customers  of  a  single  dairyman,  in  consequence  of  the  well  in  his 
bamyard  becoming  infected  from  a  hired  farm  hand  sick  with 
typhoid  fever.  Another  more  extensive  epidemic  appeared  in 
Stamford,  traced  to  a  polluted  well  in  the  barnyard  of  another 
dairyman,  among  whose  customers  there  were  more  than  three 
hundred  and  fifty  victims. 

The  remarkable  epidemic  among  the  students  of  the  Wesleyan 
University  at  Middletown  illustrates  another  source  of  danger. 

In  this  instance  the  medium  of  infection  was  raw  oysters  taken 
from  the  river  at  Fair  Haven,  near  the  mouth  of  a  private  sewer, 
which  had  received  the  non-disinfected  dejections  of  typhoid 
fever  patients.  The  use  of  milk  from  a  certain  dairy  caused  the 
loss  of  many  lives  at  Stanford  University. 

The  instances  in  which  drinking  water  from  wells  and  reser- 
voirs has  carried  the  disease  are  innumberable. 

(Arranged  from  state  and  government  reports. ) 


APPENDIX  XI 

FLORIDA  STATE  BOARD  OF  HEALTH 
HOOKWORM  DISEASE 

Treatment 

The  manner  of  administering  thymol  is  very  important.  It 
has  given  been  in  the  following  ways:  (a )  as  a  dry  powder;  (6 ) 
in  a  syrup  of  acacia;  (c)  in  capsules;  (d)  in  cachets;  (e)  in 
pills. 

As  a  dry  powder  it  is  very  unpleasant  to  take  and  has  won  for 
itself  in  certain  sections  of  the  state  (Florida),  the  local  name  of 
"hot  powder."  In  syrup  of  acacia  it  may  be  given,  but  is  still 
somewhat  disagreeable.  When  given  in  capsules,  they  should 
be  loosely  filled  and  filled  only  when  ready  to  use,  for  unless  these 
precautions  are  taken  the  thymol  will,  in  many  instances,  pass 
through  the  bowel  in  masses.  Perhaps  the  most  satisfactory 
method  of  administration  is  in  cachets.  By  mixing  equal  quanti- 
ties of  the  milk  sugar  with  thymol,  and  pulverizing,  cachets  can 
be  made  up  and  kept  on  hand  indefinitely.  A  convenient  quan- 
tity for  each  cachet  is  ten  grains  of  thymol  and  ten  ^ains  of  milk 
Bugar.  Few  patients  will  experience  any  difficulty  m  swallowing 
this  morsel,  which,  when  wet,  partakes  of  the  physical  properties 
of  an  oyster.  Thymol  acts  directly  upon  the  parasite  itself, 
killing  it  and  causing  it  to  let  go  and  be  expelled.  This  action 
is  exerted  in  the  crystalline  form,  for  it  is  only  slightly  soluble  in 
the  intestines.  It  is  therefore  seen  that  in  order  to  exert  its  maxi- 
mum effect  upon  the  worms,  it  must  reach  them  in  a  finely  divided 
Btate,  and  should  remain  in  contact  with  them  for  some  time. 

It  has  accordingly  been  found  best  to  administer  the  thvmol 
on  going  to  bed  instead  of  in  the  morning  as  was  formerly  aone. 
Let  the  patient  take  a  sahne  purge  in  the  early  afternoon,  take  no 
supper,  except  perhaps  a  cup  of  tea,  and  an  hour  before  going  to 
bed  give  half  the  quantity  of  thymol,  and  on  retiring,  give  the 
other  half.  In  the  morning  give  another  saUne  purge,  and  look 
for  the  parasites.  This  has  several  advantages  over  giving  it  in 
the  morning.  It  does  not  seem  to  disturb  the  sleep,  and  if  any 
unpleasant  symptoms  should  be  experienced,  it  is  while  the  patient 
is  in  bed,  and  it  keeps  the  thymol  in  contact  with  the  worms  longer 
by  several  hours  than  when  given  in  the  morning. 


560  APPENDIX 


Under  this  method  of  administering  the  dosage  it  is  our  experi- 
ence that  about  forty  per  cent,  of  the  cases  expel  all  the  worms 
with  the  first  treatment.  If  eggs  are  found  in  the  stools  after 
three  or  four  days,  it  shows  that  some  of  the  worms  have  not  been 
expelled,  and  the  dose  should  be  repeated.  It  not  infrequently 
happens  that  the  dose  has  to  be  repeated  several  times.  It  some- 
times happens  that  in  very  chronic  cases,  it  takes  ten  or  twelve 
treatments,  once  a  week,  before  the  worms  are  all  expelled. 

The  maximum  doses  of  Thymol  to  be  administered  are  as  follows : 

Under  5  years 7i  grains. 

5  to  10  years 15 

10  to  15  years 30 

15  to  20  years 45 

20  to  60  years. 60 

Above  60  years 45 


APPENDIX  Xn 

A  Portion  of  the  Davis  BiU. 

A  BILL  to  provide  an  appropriation  for  agricultural  and  in- 
dustrial instruction  in  secondary  schools,  for  normal  instruction 
in  agricultural  and  industrial  subjects  in  normal  schools,  and  for 
branch  agricultural  experiment  stations,  and  regulating  the 
expenditure  thereof. 

BE  IT  ENACTED  BY  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF 
REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 
AMERICA  IN  CONGRESS  ASSEMBLED,  That  commencing 
with  the  fiscal  year  beginning  July  first,  nineteen  hundred  and 
eleven,  there  shall  be,  and  hereby  is,  annually  appropriated,  to 
be  paid  as  hereinafter  provided,  to  each  state  and  territory  and  to 
the  District  of  Columoia,  for  the  maintenance  of  instruction  in 
agriculture  and  home  economics  in  agricultural  schools  of  second- 
ary grade  and  instruction  in  mechanic  arts  and  in  home  economics 
in  city  schools  of  secondary  grade,  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  not 
more  than  ten  cents  per  capita  of  the  population  of  each  state  and 
territory  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  respectively,  as  shown  in 
the  last  preceding  federal  or  state  census:  PROVIDED,  That 
in  any  state  with  less  than  five  counties  and  in  any  state  or  terri- 
tory with  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  rural  population  there 
may  be  one  agricultural  secondary  school,  which  shall  receive  not 
more  than  eight  thousand  dollars  annually  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act:  PROVIDED,  That  commencing  with  the  fiscal 
year  beginning  July  first,  nineteen  hundred  and  eight,  there 
shall  be,  and  hereby  is,  annually  appropriated  to  each  state  and 
territory  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  for  the  maintenance  of 
normal  instruction  in  agriculture,  home  economics,  and  mechanic 
arts  in  state  and  territorial  normal  schools  now  established  or 
which  may  be  hereafter  established,  an  additional  sum  of  money 
equal  to  not  more  than  one  cent  per  capita  of  the  population  of 
each  state  and  territory  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  respectivelv 
as  shown  by  the  last  preceding  federal  or  state  census:  AND 
PROVIDED  FURTHER,  That  the  amount  appropriated  to  any 
state  or  territory  for  normal  schools  shall  be  not  less  than  the  sum 
of  two  thousand  dollars  annually. 

Section  2.  That  the  funds  thus  appropriated  for  instruction 
shall  be  used  only  for  distinctive  studies  in  agriculture  and  borne 


552  APPENDIX 


economics  in  agricultural  secondary  schools,  and  for  distinctive 
studies  in  mechanic  arts  and  home  economics  in  city  schools,  and 
for  distinctive  normal  courses  in  agriculture,  home  economics, 
and  mechanic  arts  in  state  and  territorial  normal  schools,  and  that 
all  states,  territories,  and  the  District  of  Columbia  accepting  these 
funds  shall  provide  other  funds  with  which  to  pay  the  cost  of  pro- 
viding the  necessary  lands  and  buildings  and  to  pay  the  cost  of 
instruction  in  such  other  general  studies  as  will  complete  a  well- 
rounded  secondary  or  normal  school  curriculum  suited  to  the 
needs  of  the  respective  sections  of  the  Union. 

Section  3.  That  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  shall  annually 
estimate  to  Congress  the  allotments  to  be  made  to  the  respective 
states  and  territories  and  the  District  of  Columbia  under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act  and  shall  annually  designate  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  the  sum  apportioned,  at  not  more  than  ten  cents 
per  capita  on  the  p)opulation,  to  each  incorporated  city,  town,  or 
village  containing  not  less  than  two  thousand  inhabitants  for 
instruction  in  mechanic  arts  and  home  economics,  and  the  sum 
apportioned,  at  not  more  than  ten  cents  per  capita,  to  the  total 
rural  and  other  population  not  included  in  said  cities,  towns,  and 
villages  of  the  respective  states  and  territories  for  instruction  in 
agriculture  and  home  economics. 

Section  4.  That  there  shall  be,  and  hereby  is,  annually  appro- 
priated out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropria- 
ted, to  be  paid  as  hereinafter  provided,  to  each  state  and  territory 
for  the  maintenance  of  branch  agricultural  experiment  stations  on 
the  farms  of  the  agricultural  secondary  schools  appropriated  for 
in  this  act  a  sum  equal  to  one-fourth  of  the  sum  allotted  to  it 
under  this  act  for  agricultural  secondary  schools,  said  branch  agri- 
cultural experiment  stations  to  be  under  the  direction  of  the  state 
agricultm*al  experiment  stations  now  established  or  which  may 
hereafter  be  established  in  the  respective  states  and  territories  in 
accordance  with  the  act  of  Congress  approved  March  second, 
eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-seven:  PROVIDED,  That  no 
state  or  territory  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  this  section 
of  this  act  until  its  legislature  shall  by  law  have  provided  for  the 
establishment  and  the  equipment  of  such  branch  stations  and 
shall  have  provided  for  the  annual  maintenance  of  such  branch 
stations  a  sum  at  least  equivalent  to  that  appropriated  annually 
to  the  state  or  territory  under  this  section  of  this  act;  and  the 
sum  paid  to  each  state  or  territory  under  this  section  of  this  act 
shall  be  appUed  only  to  paying  the  necessary  expenses  of  conduct- 
ing by  such  branch  experiment  stations  experiments  bearing 
directly  upon  the  agricultural  industry  of  the  United  States,  hav- 
ing due  regard  to  the  varjdng  conditions  and  needs  of  the  respec- 
tive states  and  territories. 


APPENDIX  XIII 


The  Excluded  classes 

Section  2.  That  the  following  clafises  of  aliens  shall  be  excluded 
from  admission  into  the  United  States:  All  idiots,  imbeciles, 
feeble-minded  persons,  epileptics,  insane  p)ersons,  and  persons  who 
have  been  insane  within  five  years  previous;  persons  who  have 
had  two  or  more  attacks  of  insanity  at  any  time  previously: 
paupers;  persons  hkely  to  become  a  public  charge;  professional 
beggars;  persons  afflicted  with  tuberculosis  or  with  a  loathsome 
or  dangerous  contagious  disease;  persons  not  comprehended 
within  any  of  the  foregoing  excluded  classes  who  are  found  to  be 
and  are  certified  by  the  examining  surgeon  as  being  mentally 
or  physically  defective,  such  mental  or  physical  defect  being  of 
a  nature  which  may  affect  the  ability  of  such  alien  to  earn  a  li vmg : 
persons  who  have  been  convicted  of  or  admit  having  committed 
a  felony  or  other  crime  or  misdemeanor  involving  moral  turpitude; 
polygamists,  or  persons  who  admit  their  belief  in  the  practice  of 
polygamy,  anarchists,  or  persons  who  believe  in  or  advocate  the 
overthrow  by  force  or  violence  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  all  government,  or  of  all  forms  of  law,  or  the  assas- 
sination of  public  officials;  prostitutes,  or  women  or  girls  coming 
into  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution  or  for  any 
other  immoral  purpose;  persons  who  procure  or  attempt  to  bring 
in  prostitutes  or  women  or  girls  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution 
or  for  any  other  immoral  purpose:  persons  hereinafter  called 
contract  laborers,  who  have  oeen  inauced  or  solicited  to  migrate 
to  this  country  by  offers  or  promises  of  employment  or  in  conse- 
quence of  agreements,  oral,  written  or  printed,  express  or  implied, 
to  perform  Tabor  in  this  country  of  any  kind,  skilled  or  unskilled ; 
those  who  have  been,  within  one  year  from  the  date  of  applica- 
tion for  admission  to  the  United  States,  deported  as  having  been 
induced  or  solicited  to  migrate  as  above  described :  any  person 
whose  ticket  or  passage  is  paid  for  with  the  money  ot  anotner,  or 
who  is  assisted  by  others  to  come,  unless  it  is  affirmatively  and 
satisfactorily  shown  that  such  person  does  not  belong  to  one  of 
the  foregoing  excluded  classes,  and  that  said  ticket  or  passaf^ 
was  not  paid  for  by  any  corporation,  association,  society,  munici- 
pality, or  foreign  government,  either  directly  or  indirectly;  all 
children  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  imaccompanied  by  one  or 


554  APPENDIX 


both  of  their  parents,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor  or  under  such  regulations  as  he  may  from  time 
to  time  prescribe:  PROVIDED,  That  nothing  in  this  act  shall 
exclude,  if  otherwise  admissible,  persons  convicted  of  an  offense 
purely  poHtical,  not  involving  moral  turpitude;  PROVIDED 
FURTHER,  That  the  provisions  of  this  section  relating  to  the 
payments  for  tickets  or  passage  by  any  corporation,  association, 
society,  municipahty,  or  foreign  government  shall  not  apply  to 
the  tickets  or  passage  of  aliens  in  immediate  and  continuous 
transit  through  the  United  States  to  foreign  contiguous  territory : 
AND  PROVIDED  FURTHER,  That  skilled  labor  may  be  im- 
ported if  labor  of  Uke  kind  unemployed  can  not  be  found  in  this 
country:  AND  PROVIDED  FURTHER,  That  the  provision 
of  this  law  applicable  to  contract  labor  shall  not  be  held  to  exclude 
professional  actors,  artists,  lecturers,  singers,  ministers  of  any 
reUgious  denomination,  professors  for  colleges  and  seminaries, 
persons  belonging  to  any  recognized  learned  profession,  or  per- 
sons employed  strictly  as  personal  or  domestic  servants. 


APPENDIX  XIV 


Origin  and  form  of  Government  of  the  District  of  Columbia 

The  District  of  Columbia  was  established  under  the  authority 
and  direction  of  acta  of  Congress  approved  July  16,  1790,  and 
March  3, 1791. 

The  local  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  is  a  municipal 
corporation  having  jurisdiction  over  the  territory  which  "was 
ceded  by  the  State  of  Maryland  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  for  the  permanent  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States." 

This  government  is  administered  by  a  board  of  three  commis- 
sioners having  in  general  equal  powers  and  duties. 

Two  of  these  commissioners,  who  must  have  been  actual  resi- 
dents of  the  district  for  three  years  next  before  their  appointment 
and  have  during  that  period  claimed  residence  nowhere  else,  are 
appointed  from  civil  life  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  confirm^  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  for  a  term  of 
three  years  each  and  until  their  successors  are  appointed  and 
qualified. 

The  other  commissioner  is  detailed  from  time  to  time  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  from  the  engineer  corps  of  the 
United  States  army,  and  shall  not  be  required  to  perform  any  other 
duty.  This  commissioner  shall  be  selected  from  among  the  cap- 
tains or  oflBcers  of  higher  grade  having  served  at  least  fifteen 
years  in  the  corps  of  engineers  of  the  army  of  the  United  Sates. 

The  salary  of  each  of  the  commissioners  is  $5,000  per  annum. 

One  of  the  said  commissioners  shall  be  chosen  president  of  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  at  their  first  meeting,  and  annually  and 
whenever  a  vacancy  shall  occur  thereafter. 

The  commissioners  are  in  a  general  way  vested  with  jurisdic- 
tion covering  all  the  ordinary  features  of  municipal  government. 

Congress  has  by  sundry  statutes  empowered  the  commissioners 
to  make  building  regulations;  plumbing  regulations;  to  make  and 
enforce  all  such  reasonable  and  usual  police  regulations  as  they 
may  deem  necessary  for  the  protection  of  lives,  limbs,  health, 
comfort,  and  quiet  of  all  persons,  and  the  protection  of  all  proper- 
ty within  the  district,  ana  other  regulations  of  a  municipal  nature. 


INDEX 


Pag9 

Agricultural  Colleges 352 

Hatch  Act 352 

Morrill  Act 352 

Davis  Bill 350 

Experiment  Stations 350 

Appalachian  Forests 119 

Australia  Solving  Social  Problems  67 

Alfred  Nobel 461 

Back  to  the  Farm 191 

Bureau  of  Animal  Industry 144 

Bureau  of  Entomology    146 

Bureau  of  Immigration 194 

Division  of  Information 394 

Terence  V.  Powderly,  plana  of   391 

Bureau  of  Standards 412 

Boards  of  Health 266 

Baroness  Von  Suttner 461 

Caraegie  Institute 348 

Christ  of  the  Andes 481 

Civic  Service,  lists  of   21 

Captains  of  Industry  in  Social  Service    24 

City  Departments  in  Social  Service 29 

Conservation 

Early  Waste  of  Resources   98 

Corporation  Control 99 

Grants  made  to  Railroads 100 

Conservation  Congress,  held  in  Washington    108 

Coal,  its  waste  and  conservation 116 

Commonwealths  their  real  wealth 64 


INDEX 

Page 

Co-operation 135 

Country  Life  Commiflsion,  report  of 195 

Census  OflBce 411 

Children's  Bureau 437 

Children's  Charter 443 

Contract  Law  Labor 372 

Department  of  Education,  its  organization 308 

Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 406,  194 

Bureau  of  Labor 407 

Bureau  of  Corporations 409 

Dr.  H.  W.  Wiley 430 

Department  of  the  Interior 194 

Devine,  Dr.,  quotation 187 

Dry  Farming 154 

Department  of  Agriculture   133 

Direct  Legislation 602 

Education  in  Alaska 317 

Electricity,  its  Departments  from  Water  Power   125 

England  Solving  Social  Problems 46 

Fertilizing  Land 152 

Farming,  its  history  and  development 140 

Fisheries  Commission 162 

Factory  Removal 179 

Farm  Unit  City  on  Reclamation  Projects 197 

Government  Ownership 415 

Government  Hospitals 282 

A  Study  of  Typhoid 286 

Warring  on  FHes 297 

Mosquitoes 291 

Rata 298 

Hookworm   300 

Good  Roads,  the  need  for 230 

U.  S.  Government  Building 234 

Division  of  198 

Governor  Folk,  quotation  from 18 

Governor  Hughes,  quotation  from 34 


INDEX 

Pao$ 

Gennany  Solving  Problems 52 

Hero  Fund  482 

Interparliamentary  Union 459 

Iwahig  Penal  Colony    485 

International  Congresses  315 

Indian  Education    220 

Porto  Rico 882 

Hawaii 336 

Philippines 338 

Interstate  Commission  416 

Immigration 361 

Its  History 363 

Head  Tax 365 

Excluded  Classes 367 

Immigrant 

In  ElUs  Island 388 

Distribution  of 391 

Education  of 401 

North  Carolina  Colony 392 

Individualism 9 

Irrigation 

Its  History 78 

Failures  in 77 

Japan  Regulates  Monopoly 65 

Jewish  Removal  Ofl5ce 177 

L'enfant's  Plan  of  Washington  446 

Leper  Colony  in  the  Philippines  and  Hawaiian  Islands. .  208 

Lighthouse  Board,  its  history 200 

Life  Saving  Service,  its  history 200 

Ministry  of  Fine  Arts 449 

Municipal  Farm 33 

Mexico  Controls  Railways 56 

National  Parks 460 

NaturaUzation  Laws 404 

National  Health 269 

Navy  Department 274 


INDEX 

Page 

U.  S.  Anny 275 

Marine  Hospital  Service 276 

National  University 344 

National  Forests 

Their  Uses    102 

Forest  Ranges 104 

New  Zealand  Solving  Social  Problenas 57 

Newlands  Reclamation  Bill 86 

Newell,  Frederick  H.,  Head  of  Reclamation  Service 82 

Office  of  Experiment  Station 434 

Oil  and  Natural  Gas  Development 113 

Peace  Congresses 459 

Peace  Conference  at  The  Hague 462 

Peace  Palace 470 

Pan-American  Conferences 475 

Postal  Savings  Banks 220 

In  England 221 

In  the  Philippines 222 

Parcels  Post 210 

Postal  Service 207 

Public  School,  its  development 306 

Panama,  care  of  laborers 226 

Patent  Office   411 

Pure  Food 423 

Plant  Industry 355 

Poverty,  Crime,  Disease  Preventable   9 

Pubhc  School,  new  methods    31 

People's  Agricultural  High  Schools   36 

PubUc  Ownership    60 

Pubhc  Land,  its  proper  distribution 

Methods  Used 66 

Pre-emption 65 

Homestead 67 

Stone  and  Timber 67 

Carey  Act 79 

Desert  Land  Law   79 


INDEX 

Page 

Powell,  Major  John  W.,  a  pioneer  in  irrigation 82 

Pinchot,  Gifford,  quotation  from 167 

Roosevelt  Policies 508 

Roosevelt  Dam 91 

Roosevelt,  Ex-president,  quotation  from 112 

Rural  Delivery 208 

Research  by  Students 310 

Reindeer  in  Alaska 323 

Railway  Accidents  Preventable   64 

Rochdale  Co-operation 46 

Riis,  Jacob 165 

Swamp  Drainage  Bill • 06 

Area  of  Swamp  Lands 

Smythe,  William  C,  Promoter  of  National  Irrigational 

Congress 84 

Switzerland,  Most  Democratic  Country 66 

Sweden  Solving  Social  Problems 64 

Socialized  Capitalists,  a  new  name  applied 26 

Social  Service,  the  new  ideal 7 

Smithsonian  Institute 346 

Steamboat  Inspection 261 

Safeguarding  Mines 262 

Experiment  Station 266 

The  Cost  of  War 267 

The  Slum,  financial  loss 43 

A  National  Asset 82 

Tenement  Houses 170 

Votes  for  Women 63 

WUd  Birds 163 

Water  Power 120 

Waterways 122 

Warehousing •••••  184 

Union  High  Schools   ••.••..  198 

U.  S.  Geological  Survey 412 

Weather  Bureau    354 

How  It  Serves  the  People 242 

Waste  Labor  on  Waste  Land 904 


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THE  DOOR  WHERE  THE  WRONG  LAY.    By  Mary  E.  Greene. 

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A  KNIGHT  IN  HOMESPUN.    By  John  Charfea  Spoth. 

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This  tale  of  Colonial  Days  in  New  Jersey  Ukes  one  among 
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